Teen Volunteer Review: The Lightning Thief

Boston Public Library's teen volunteer program has gone remote! As part of this program, local high schoolers share their thoughts on books, movies, and more on our blog. This week, Jalissa Martins, a student at Boston Collegiate Charter School, is sharing her review of the ever-popular The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.

The Lightning Thief is an action-packed book about a boy named Percy Jackson. From the beginning, strange things keep happening around Percy.
 
First, his boarding school teacher turns into a monster, attacks him on a field trip, then disappears, and no one remembers she was ever there. "Who's Mrs. Dodds?" they all ask when he brings it up. Then Percy overhears his best friend Grover talking to their favorite teacher about the danger Percy is in and how they need to protect him. Percy has no idea what they are talking about.
 
When Percy heads home to Manhattan for the summer holidays, he and his mom decide to take a trip to the coast. A terrible storm kicks up one night and Grover appears, banging on the door and telling Percy he has to flee. Percy's mom drives them to a camp that Percy's absent father told her about, but not fast enough. A Minotaur attacks them and tries to tear the car and Percy to shreds.
 
Percy wakes up much later in the strangest place he's ever been: Camp Half-Blood. It's a place where kids can train and learn to be safe from monsters. That's when Percy learns that Greek gods still exist and hold sway in the world... and that his father is one of them. This is when the book really takes off, because right now the gods are warring and Percy's existence may be partly to blame.
 
I really enjoyed this book because so many different things happened and I was never bored. The characters switch locations a lot because they are traveling on a quest. There is non-stop action, so if you like adventure stories, you will definitely enjoy this book as much as I did.
 
I also liked this book because of Percy. Percy is brave, adventurous, and loyal. He has a good heart, protects his friends, and always tries to make things right when he can.
 
Finally, if you like myths and stories about gods and goddesses, this book is for you! It is the first book in series and they are all based on mythology, so I recommend checking them all out. 
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