The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief is a 2005 fantasy/adventure novel written by Rick Riordan. The first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, it chronicles the adventures of Percy Jackson, the son of a mortal woman and a Greek god, and his friends on a quest to avoid a war between the gods. The story contains a multitude of encounters with characters from Greek mythology still alive in modern days. It is young-adult fiction, written in a playful style while also trying to be faithful to the original myths.

Synopsis
Percy Jackson dyslexic and hotheaded, has been kicked out of yet another school. He goes to Yancy Academy, and is in danger of being kicked out again, making it the sixth school he got kicked out of in six years. He goes to a field trip, and his Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner, his favorite teacher, is leading it. Percy looses his temper, when Nancy Bobfit, his worst enemy, dumps her half eaten lunch onto his best friend, Grover Underwood. Percy didn't touch her at all, but the next thing he sees, Nancy landed in the water fountain, and the other classmates kept saying of how the water pulled her down. Mrs. Dodds, Percy's math teacher approaches Percy, telling him to follow her.

Mrs. Dodds then turns in to a Fury, and attacks Percy. Mr. Brunner then comes and throws a pen at Percy, which turns into a sword. Percy then kills Mrs. Dodds. However, he goes outside, everyone is convinced that there were no Mrs. Dodds. He hands the sword, which turned back into a pen, back to Mr. Brunner. When asked to Mr. Brunner where Mrs. Dodds went, Mr. Brunner replied that there was no Mrs. Dodds at this school at all. However, Percy knows that Grover knew something had happened, because of the way Grover hesitated before saying that there was no such thing as Mrs. Dodds.

Soon, Percy is kicked out of Yancy Academy after calling his English teacher an old sot.Percy takes the same bus with Grover to go back home. Percy and Grover witness the three Fates, who appear in front of people who will die. Percy goes back to his apartment, where he meets his horrible stepfather, Gabe Ugalino. Soon, his mom, Sally Jackson, comes home, and tells Percy that they were going to Monatuk for the weekend. Percy is excited about the trip. He tells his mom of all the good times he had at Yancy Academy, but does not tell her all the strange thing that happen. In the middle of the night in Monatuk, Grover appears, and it is revealed that he is a satyr. Percy tells his mom what happened at school, and his mom quickly gets both Grover and Percy to the car, in which she tries driving them to Camp Half-Blood. Along the way, they are stalked by a Minotaur. Suddenly, a lightning bolt strikes the car, blowing it off the road. They were about a 100 feet from Camp, but Grover was unconcious. The Minotaur charges, but misses Percy. The Minotaur than grabs Percy's mom by the neck, and she transforms into a blinding flash of golden light. Percy, enraged goes and fights the Minotaur, succeeding by ripping of the horn of the Minotaur, and stabbing it with the horn. He is then dragged into a barn, where he meets Annabeth Chase, Mr. Brunner aka Chiron, and Mr. D. After feeding Percy nectar, Percy is moved to the Hermes cabin, because no one knows which god was his dad. There, he meets Luke Castellan, who offers his hospitality to Percy. Clarrisse, daughter of the war god, Ares, then takes Percy, and tries to stuff his head into a toilet. Percy summons the water from the toilets and hits Clarrisse, and her friends. Percy is the only one left dry. He is introduced into Annabeth's Capture the Flag team, where he is made border patrol. Soon, Clarrisse and her friends attack Percy, bent on revenge. They pummel him hard, and he is sent flying into the creek. However, the water wakes his senses, and he attacks and beats half of the Ares cabin. They win at Capture the Flag. However, a hellhound from the underworld tries to attack Percy. Percy is injured, and the hellhound is shot to death by arrows and Annabeth tells him to step in the water again. Percy's injury suddenly is healed, and he is declared son of the sea god,.

Percy is then given a quest, with the help of Annabeth and Grover. Zeus's lightning bolt was stolen, and Zeus believed that Posideon stole it. The lightning bolt must be given on the day of the summer solstice, or else war will begin. They encounter many mythical creatures, such as Medusa, and live in many magical places, such as the Lotus Hotel and Casino. They soon enter the underworld, in which they find out that Hades helm of darkness was also stolen. They find out that Ares, the war god, took them both, the lightning bolt and the helm of darkness, and that Ares was taking orders from Kronos. Both gods received their items and the war was prevented. Soon, Percy and his friends were hailed heros.

Luke then invites Percy to go hunt some animals, in the forest. It is soon shown of Luke's darkside, and he summons a scorpion to kill Percy. Percy is stung, but was cured by Chiron. Luke escapes, and everyone is shocked by Luke's betrayal, and going to Krono's side. Luke's final words before his dissappearance was "A new Golden Age will begin Percy, and you won't be a part of it." Soon, Percy makes the decision to go back home to his mom, in which Hades returned back after getting his helm of darkness. Gabe Ugalino was turned to stone after Percy's mom put Medusa's head in front of him. Percy then quotes that he will always be the true son of a sea god.

Characters

 * Perseus "Percy" Jackson is a twelve year old half-blood son of Poseidon. He initially knows nothing about his heritage (save for mythology lessons in Latin class) and disbelieves the magical events occurring around him. Over time he accepts his genealogy, becoming more confident and capable.
 * Grover Underwood is a satyr who befriends Percy while secretly assigned to guard him at boarding school, and later accompanies Percy on his quest. It is Grover's dream to find the satyr god Pan, who disappeared long ago.
 * Chiron is the centaur and healer of legend, now assistant director of Camp Half Blood. He sometimes leaves the camp in disguise to visit prospective students, as he did with Percy under the disguise of Mr. Brunner, a wheelchair-bound Latin teacher. He is concealing a prophecy that may apply to Percy. Chiron gives Percy Anaklusmos (Riptide), a magic sword said to have been used by Poseidon.
 * Annabeth Chase is a twelve year old half-blood daughter of Athena. She has a Yankees cap that bestows the power of invisibility to the wearer. Annabeth is very intelligent and loves to read. Like all children of Athena, she is averse to spiders, the children of Arachne.
 * Luke Castellan is a half-blood son of Hermes. He has a scar under his eye given to him by the dragon of Hesperides. He is one of Percy's first friends at Camp Half-Blood and very good with a sword.
 * Sally Jackson is Percy's mother. She is around 33 to 43 years old. She is an aspiring writer, but unfortunate circumstances in her life led her to drop out of college and work in a candy shop. She attempts to protect Percy by concealing his true nature from everyone, including Percy himself.
 * Gabriel "Gabe" Ugliano is Percy's obnoxious poker-playing stepfather. The stench of his human banality can mask the scent of Percy's divine blood, which is why Sally Jackson married him in the first place.

Many gods of the Greek pantheon appear, including Ares, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. The most notable is Dionysus, aka "Mr. D", who is being punished by Zeus with a 100-year alcohol-free stint as the director of Camp Half-Blood. Dionysus hates his job, disdains the campers, and ignores them as much as he is allowed.

Percy and his friends also encounter numerous monsters of Greek mythology, including the Minotaur, the Furies, Medusa, Procrustes, and Cerberus.

Prophecy
This book's prophecy was given to Percy Jackson.


 * You shall go west, and face the god who has turned.
 * You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned.
 * You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.
 * And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.

Film adaptation
In June 2004, 20th Century Fox acquired feature film rights to the book. The following November, screenwriter Joe Stillman was hired to adapt a screenplay based on the book. . In April 2007, director Chris Columbus was hired to helm the project. . The film has gone into pre-production. The budget hasn't yet been set, concept art is being created, and the script is being finalized. It has been announced that the release date of the film will be February 12, 2010. The offical title for the movie is Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief opening the growing chances of a sequel, and eventually the entire series. Logan Lerman has been cast as Percy Jackson and Brandon T. Jackson as Grover Underwood. Alexandra Daddario will be playing Annabeth Chase in the Percy Jackson adaption. Uma Therman will be playing Medusa, and Pierce Brosnan will be playing Chiron. Joining them will be Kevin McKidd as Posiedon, Sean Bean as Zeus, and Melina Kanakeredes as Athena. Richard Harmon has been cast as a mortal kid who chased Percy and his friends into a waterbed shop. Tim Aas has been cast as Procrustes.

Awards

 * Mark Twain Award 2008 (Missouri Association of School Librarians)
 * Bluebonnet Award Nominee (Texas Library Association)
 * Askews Torchlight Award (UK) Winner
 * Best of the Best Book List (Chicago Public Library)
 * Top Shelf Fiction List (Voice of Youth Advocates)
 * Notable Book (American Library Association)
 * Best Book for Young Adults (Young Adult Library Services Association)
 * Red House Children's Book Award Winner (UK)
 * Choice Award; Notable Children's Book (Cooperative Children's Book Center)
 * National Council for Teachers of English, Publishers Weekly National Children's Bestseller
 * Warwickshire Book Award Winner (UK)
 * Beehive Award Winner 2006 (Children's Literature Association of Utah)
 * Maine Student Book of The Stupids