"The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan

This was the book that was constantly in the hands of my students. Not just this one book, but the entire series, thankyouverymuch. Since I teach middle school children, I am often wanting to read what they are reading. Not because it'll make me appear much hipper, or whatever, in their shoes, but because sometimes what they read looks good. So, I put down the Dean Koontz adult novel I'm reading and I pick up something that's a bit easier on the mind.

Then I realize it's mythology, and it's been years since I've studied Greek mythology and so it wasn't exactly easier on the mind. The language was, but all the stories that I needed to know as background weren't.

I'm glad someone out there decided to play around with Greek mythology. There's the concept that the gods move (as well as Mount Olympus) to where the Western Culture is as its strongest. I think that intelligence made the novel for me. That small piece hooked me and made the idea of Greek mythology in modern times relevant. The character, Percy Jackson, seemed a bit older than sixth grade in the book. I think that's my biggest beef. I also enjoy that the bad guy in the story isn't Hades. I think, out of all the gods that were introduced and characterized in the book, Hades was my favorite. You would want him to be the "bad guy" like he is in Disney's "Hercules," but really, he got a lousy deal. While all the other gods got to shine on in the realm of Mount Olympus, he's stuck in the gloomy underworld. Pshaw.

Thank you Rick Riordan for playing around with one of my most beloved aspects of literature: mythology. I look forward to traveling with Percy and his friends through the next four novels. I needed another journey.