|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
|
Product Description
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-9–At the outset of this fast-paced tale by Rick Riordan (Hyperion/Miramax, 2005), it would seem that Percy Jackson is just another New York kid diagnosed with ADHD, who has good intentions, a nasty stepfather, and a long line of schools that have rejected him. The revelation of his status as half-blood offspring of one of the Greek gods is nicely packaged, and it's easy to believe that Mount Olympus, in modern times, has migrated to the 600th floor of the Empire State Building (the center of Western civilization) while the door to Hades can be found at DOA Recording Studio, somewhere in LA. With his new friends, a disguised satyr, and the half-blood daughter of Athena, Percy sets out across the country to rectify a feud between Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon. Along the way they must cope with the Furies, Medusa, motorcycle thug Aires, and various other immortals. Although some of Jesse Bernstein's accents fail (the monster from Georgia, for instance, has no Southern trace in her voice), he does a fine job of keeping the main characters' tones and accents distinguishable. He convincingly portrays Percy, voicing just the right amount of prepubescent confusion, ironic wit, and the ebbing and waning of concern for himself and those around him. Mythology fans will love this take and kids who haven't been inculcated with the Classical canon will learn aspects of it here while having no trouble following a rollicking good–and modern–adventure.–Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Gr. 6-9. The escapades of the Greek gods and heroes get a fresh spin in the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, about a contemporary 12-year-old New Yorker who learns he's a demigod. Perseus, aka Percy Jackson, thinks he has big problems. His father left before he was born, he's been kicked out of six schools in six years, he's dyslexic, and he has ADHD. What a surprise when he finds out that that's only the tip of the iceberg: he vaporizes his pre-algebra teacher, learns his best friend is a satyr, and is almost killed by a minotaur before his mother manages to get him to the safety of Camp Half-Blood--where he discovers that Poseidon is his father. But that's a problem, too. Poseidon has been accused of stealing Zeus' lightning bolt, and unless Percy can return the bolt, humankind is doomed. Riordan's fast-paced adventure is fresh, dangerous, and funny. Percy is an appealing, but reluctant hero, the modernized gods are hilarious, and the parallels to Harry Potter are frequent and obvious. Because Riordan is faithful to the original myths, librarians should be prepared for a rush of readers wanting the classic stories. Chris Sherman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Engaging,
By
This review is from: Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - Book One (Paperback)
I bought this book for my 9 year old son and gave it to him at Christmas. This book had to compete with a new Nintendo DS, Wii games, R/C truck, and innumerable other Christmas presents. It's a 400 page book. He had it read in 2 days.I don't know if I can give it a more ringing endorsement than that.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting,
By
This review is from: Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - Book One (Paperback)
My friend gave me her book to read because she loves it so much. I really didn't think I would want to read it, seeing as this book was written for younger children and we are both older adults, but she insisted it was great. Now after reading it I understand why, this book is good for all ages. I've only read this first book so far out of the series and I really liked it. There was a lot of adventure and there always seemed to be something exciting happening to keep you interested. I will definitely be reading the next adventures of Percy Jackson that's for sure.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Stuff!!,
By
This review is from: Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - Book One (Paperback)
I really like this series (have read the first two so far), and it's a shame that it isn't more well known.Riordan has done a very clever thing - he's entered the cluttered young adult fantasy arena with plots woven from the old Greek legends. So he has actually claimed the stories that have since inspired Rowling and others. I mean, the parallels are almost funny - in this series we have a prophecy about a young savior (hello harry potter & golden compass), and we have a dark lord (Kronos) slowly rebuilding his strength as he prepares to take over the world (hello voldemort!!). And though you might expect the greek tie in to lead to overly-dramatic writing, the book is actually really fresh and funny. The God Poseidon for example is a Jimmy Buffet / beach bum playboy figure. I highly recommend these books. They're more quickly paced than Rowling and Pullman's books, more readable (because Riordan isn't building up detailed backstories the way those authors do), and quite simply they're great page-turners.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Children's Books > Literature > Action & Adventure
- Books > Children's Books > Literature > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > Greek & Roman
- Books > Children's Books > Literature > Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror > Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
- Books > Kids & Family Store > Ages 9-12
- Books > Kids & Family Store > Teens
- Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Mythology > Children's Books
- Books > Teens > Literature & Fiction > Adventure & Thrillers
- Books > Teens > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy
- Books > Teens > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
