The Lightning Thief

By Rick Riordan

Genre: FantasyPages: 400

summary

When troubled student Percy Jackson vaporizes his math teacher on a class field trip, he begins to suspect that his life is not what it seems. He discovers that his lifelong reading and attention troubles are all signs that he is a half-blood-a child of the Greek gods. After a summer training session with other demigods and Chiron the centaur, he sets off on a cross-country quest to Los Angeles (the entrance to Hades) with his friend Grover the faun and Annabeth, a child of Athena, to recover Zeus' lost thunderbolt and stop a war between the gods. Along the way, where modern life and mythology intersect to create both humor and excitement, Percy will come to know his father Poseidon, rescue his mother, and discover that he has what it takes to be a hero. If you want to find out how this incredible story ends, you must read this book!!!!!

Favorite part

My favorite part of The Lightning Thief was found in Chapter 16, We Take a Zebra to Vegas. In this chapter, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover find themselves in an amazing hotel in Las Vegas. While in the hotel, they are able to have access to ANYTHING they want, food, entertainment etc. And the best part is, EVERYTHING is free!!! This hotel isn’t all that appears to be, however, and the gang find themselves in a little bit of a dilemma.

vocabulary

Scrawny Pulverize Defunct Misnomer Billowing Pseudonym Kinsmen Skeptically Dousing Submerged

Vocabulary definitions

Scrawny-excessively thin; lean

Pulverize-to demolish or crush completely

Defunct-no longer in existence; dead

Misnomer-an error in naming a person or thing

Billowing-to swell out or puff up

Pseudonym-a fictitious name used to conceal one’s identity

Kinsmen-a person of the same nationality or ethnic group as you

Skeptically-to look at someone with doubt

Dousing-to splash or throw water or liquid on

Submerged-under the surface of water

Vocabulary sentences

The boy was so scrawny that he looked like a toothpick!

Watch me while I pulverize this soda can with my fist!

After putting a lot of money in, the new restaurant was defunct.

Naming my dog killer was a misnomer, since he is the nicest dog around!

The girl’s long, red hair was billowing around her face.

Vocabulary sentences continued…

The author used a pseudonym when he wrote the novel

so no one would know that is was him. I put so much effort into the rally because I wanted to

support my kinsmen. When I told the teacher that it took me five hours to

complete my homework, she looked at me skeptically. The little boys ran around dousing the other children

with water. The submarine was submerged in the ocean for fifteen

hours.

Recommendation

I would most definitely recommend The Lightning Thief to a friend. Not only is the book fast-paced, it is also hilarious! I didn’t want to put the book down the entire time I was reading it. I can’t wait to read the other books in the series!

What I plan on reading next…

The book I would like to read next is the next book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The book is entitled, The Sea of Monsters. If this book is anything like The Lightning Thief, I know that I am going to enjoy it!

About the author…

Rick Riordan was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He started writing as a young adult. He began by writing short stories but he was unsuccessful. He submitted a few of those stories for publication, and was the editor on his high school newspaper. However, he didn’t take writing seriously until after he graduated from college and was teaching in San Francisco. Riordan and his family (wife Becky and sons Haley and Patrick) enjoyed living in California, but they missed Texas. Riordan decided to write a mystery novel set in his hometown of San Antonio. The book was very successful, but he wanted to write children’s books. That’s when he got the idea to start the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series.