On July 1, 2005, one of the most famous young adult book series of all time was released: Percy Jackson. To this day many teenagers still have “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief” sitting on their shelves because of their love for the book.  

The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan was born into the golden age of young adult literature, nestled between the releases of the Harry Potter series and other popular books such as “The Maze Runner” and “The Hunger Games.” This led to the perfect time for a novel about a teenage demigod to be introduced to the world. 

The book stars Percy Jackson, a troubled 12-year-old who always seems to find himself in trouble. Between having dyslexia and ADHD, his schoolwork seems to never be up to the standards that teachers hold him to. When the boarding he attends finally ends, he is excited to be able to go back to his home for the summer. Except instead of sitting in his room for weeks on end, he winds up at every teens dream summer spot, Camp-Half Blood. If I could spend my free time in any fictional world, it would have to be here because of all the fun activities they participate in. 

As the book continues, Jackson learns why he is different from his peers, he is a Half-Blood: half-god, half-human. His dyslexia and ADHD are from his godly side of the family. They always needed to be ready to fight and it passed down to Jackson in this way. For the first time in his life, Jackson’s finding his place at camp. He is finally making friends and becoming a better version of himself until he is claimed by the god who is his father. Now everything has been turned upside down once again. 

After being accused of stealing a previous item of the gods, Jackson goes on the quest of the lifetime with the devastating deadline creeping up on him. His friends Grover (the Greek deity satyr whose duty is to protect Jackson), and Annabeth (the daughter of Athena) join him on his journey. The crew then travels the country in the hopes of stopping the impending war. After searching for days on end, traveling the continent, even to Underworld and back, the team finally finds the missing object, which has fallen into the wrong hands. After following along with the half-bloods during this whole story, I was surprised on who acquired the godly item. It was a twist I did not see coming. 

Riordan does an amazing job making Greek mythology interesting for teenagers. Reading this book makes me want to research more about the ancient myths. The work he did with world building and highlighting the importance of Camp-Half Blood makes it easy to be drawn into the story. 

Even though the first Percy Jackson book was released over 15 years ago, fans have still been able to follow along with the story after all this time. With the companion series “The Heroes of Olympus,” readers are able to see a new set of demigods at Camp Half-Blood. In 2020, it was announced that Disney+ is going to reboot the Percy Jackson  universe into a TV series that is set to release in 2024. On top of that, Riordan has recently announced that he is picking up his pen once again and a brand new Percy Jackson novel will be on the shelves in late 2023. With all of this in mind, it is a great time to give this series a chance. 

“Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief” is an amazing story of finding true friends and not giving up. This book is one I could always pick up to read time and time again. I’m so glad I finally dove into this story, and I believe that every reader needs to join me on the next quest.

Contact Bridget Nye at [email protected]