PERCY JACKSON OLYMPIANSTHE LIGHTNING THIEF
The Lightning Thief When 12-year-old Percy Jackson learns that his true father is Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, he undertakes a dangerous quest across the United States to retrieve a stolen lightning bolt and stop a war between the gods. The Lightning Thief provides a high-interest, humorous introduction to the Greek myths. It encourages young readers to explore elements of the classical hero’s quest rendered in a modernday setting, and to discuss such relevant issues as learning disabilities, the nature of family, and themes of loyalty, friendship and faith.
Percy Jackson is abnormal twelve year-old kid, but up until a few months ago he was just an average troublemaker going to Yancy Academy, a boarding school for troubled kids in New York. Things didn’t start going bad until last May when his class went on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mr. Brunner, the Latin teacher that was obsessed with Greek and Roman armor and weapons, was leading the trip. Percy had hoped that this trip would be different than his normal ones, the ones were he got expelled for accidents. Mrs. Dodds the math teacher that favored Nancy, materialized beside him and asked him to come inside, despite Grover’s pleading. They headed back into the room with the stele and Mrs. Dodds accused him of something unknown to him. When he didn’t give the correct response she turned into a harpy-like creature and attacked him. Things got even stranger when Mr. Brunner appeared and tossed Percy what looked like a pen, but was actually a sword. As Mrs. Dodds flew at him with the intent to kill Percy did what anyone would natural do, he swung the sword and vaporized his teacher. At the end of the year, Grover insists on escorting Percy home from boarding school. Grover’s nervousness and cryptic comments about Percy being in danger make Percy uneasy.
Percy’s home life is far from perfect. His mother Sally Jackson is a kind woman who never had any luck in life. She dreams of being a writer, but works at a candy shop to make ends meet and is married to “Smelly” Gabe Ugliano, Percy’s abusive stepfather, who expects Percy to provide him with poker-playing money in exchange for room and board. Percy struggles to understand why his mother, who obviously loves him, takes such pains to send him away every year to a different boarding school. When Percy and his mother go for a weekend retreat to the beach, their time together is interrupted by a storm and a horrible wailing in the middle of the night. Percy and Grover talk about what he is, a satyr, and all the things he learned in Latin class, especially how they aren’t a myth. The truth was that Percy was in grave danger and the Lord of the Dead was after him. Percy still couldn’t believe that Grover’s legs were not human and, more interestingly, his mother seemed to know Grover.
Sally Jackson soared through the night heading for the summer camp that Percy’s father wanted him to attend the car crashed on the side of the road due to a bolt of lightning. Without hesitation, Sally ordered Percy from the car and to head for the property line as a dark figure lumbered towards the overturned car. Percy rejected the notion of leaving his mother and Grover and forced her to help him carry Grover to the property line. The Minotaur sniffed the car, his sight terrible, and threw Gabe’s Camaro down the road where it exploded. Sally warns that when the Minotaur charges he must jump sideways to avoid it and he does. She sets Grover down on the property line and tries beast away, unable to cross herself, but the Minotaur had learned her trick. He grabbed her by the neck, choking her, and Percy watched as his mother dissolved in a shimmering light. They have no choice but to flee to Camp Half Blood and have a training for demigods.
Once at camp, Percy is reunited with his Latin teacher, who in his true form is Chiron, the immortal centaur and trainer of heroes. Percy learns that the Greek gods are alive and well—an integral part of the collective consciousness called Western Civilization. Olympus, the home of the gods, moves with the heart of the civilization, and now hovers invisibly over the Empire State Building, since America is currently the great power of the West. Percy learns that the gods still have children with mortals, and that monsters naturally seek out these young demigods.
Camp Half Blood serves as a safe haven where these powerful, endangered young heroes can train to defend themselves. For the past sixty years, the “big three” (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades) have kept an oath not to have mortal children because their powerful nature can cause great trouble in the world, but the other Olympians still have enough children to fill the camp. Percy meets Annabeth, a daughter of Athena, and Luke, a son of Hermes. He also makes a new enemy in Clarisse, a daughter of Ares. Percy’s own parentage remains undetermined until a swirling trident appears above him during a Greek-battle–style game of capture the flag. To the astonishment of the other campers, Percy is recognized as a son of Poseidon—the first in three generations. Soon after this revelation, Percy learns that there is trouble in Olympus. Zeus’s master bolt—the weapon upon which all other lightning bolts are modeled—has been stolen, and Zeus has accused Poseidon of instigating the theft.
The lord of the sky believes that Poseidon used Percy, a human hero, to steal the bolt in a plot to overthrow Zeus. Zeus has given Poseidon until summer solstice—only ten days—to return the weapon. Poseidon is offended, but he also dreads the thought of war with Zeus. He needs Percy’s help to find out what really happened war with Zeus. He needs Percy’s help to find out what really happened to the bolt. Chiron believes that Hades, lord of the underworld, stole the bolt to set his two brothers at each other’s throats. Chiron tells Percy that he must travel to the entrance of the underworld in Los Angeles (by land, since Zeus would blast him out of the sky if he tried to fly), confront Hades, and return the master bolt to Olympus before the solstice passes in order to prevent a war between the gods.
As is customary, Percy consults the Oracle before leaving. He is warned that he will fail to save what matters most in the end, and will be betrayed by a friend. Deeply troubled, but believing that the quest to the underworld is the only way to see his mother again, Percy sets out with two companions, Annabeth and Grover. Along the way, the three friends learn to trust one another. Annabeth, whose mother Athena is an old rival of Poseidon, must overcome her doubts about Percy. Grover the satyr must overcome his fear of monsters and underground places. Only by showing courage can Grover convince the Council of Cloven Elders to grant him his life-long goal of a “searcher’s license,” giving him the right to quest for the missing god of the wilderness, Pan.
Percy comes to terms with his anger toward his father, who has suddenly declared himself after ignoring Percy for twelve years. In his travels west, Percy encounters Medusa, the Chimera, Procrustes the Stretcher, and the Lotus Hotel and Casino (the Land of the Lotus Eaters). He also meets the war god Ares, who gives Percy a mysterious backpack in exchange for doing the god a favor, and a Nereid, who gives Percy three magic pearls from Poseidon—each of which will return one person to the sea from wherever they may be, even the land of the dead.
The friends finally arrive in the underworld only to discover that they have been tricked. The culprit is not Hades, but the defeated Titan, Kronos, who is trapped in the depths of Tartarus but is still able to manipulate the dreams of gods and men. Hoping to start a three-way war between his Olympian sons, Kronos caused the master bolt and also Hades’s helm of darkness to be stolen by a human hero whose identity Percy does not yet know. Kronos’s human thief was unexpectedly captured by Ares. The war god meant to keep the magic items for himself, but Kronos bent his will and caused the god to give the master bolt to Percy, hidden within the magic backpack, so that the young hero might bring it to the underworld for Kronos.
Hades is sure Percy is the thief who stole the bolt and his helm. The god of the dead is holding Percy’s mother—who is only frozen in a shower of gold, not dead—and demands Percy give up the magic helm before she is released. As armies of the dead surround him, Percy brings out his magic pearls. With only three, he realizes he must choose between the lives of his two friends and saving his mother. In the end, he can’t abandon his friends. Promising his mother that he will return for her, Percy and his friends escape to the surface, where Percy battles the god Ares for possession of the bolt and the helm. Percy wins, gives the helm to the Furies to return to the underworld, and travels back to New York with the bolt in time to prevent a war.
At Olympus, Percy meets his father face to face. Poseidon seems distant and sad, but says he is proud of his son. He says he fears Percy has been born for a hero’s tragic fate. Poseidon tells Percy that his mother is back— returned as a peace offering by Hades—and that when Percy returns home, he will have to make an important choice. Percy rushes back to his family’s apartment, where he finds Medusa’s head waiting for him, a trophy he had forgotten mailing home earlier in his quest. He realizes he has the chance to petrify his stepfather and save his mother from a miserable marriage. His mother implores him not to do it, however. She must break away from Gabe herself. Percy respects her wishes, and thus breaks the mold of what the tragic hero might have done. The prophecy thus comes true in an unexpected way: Percy fails to save what matters most by allowing his mother to save herself.
Upon returning to Camp Half Blood, Percy is betrayed by his friend Luke, son of Hermes, who turns out to be the human hero whom Kronos used for the theft. Luke poisons Percy, and tells him before leaving that Kronos will rise and destroy the age of the gods. Western Civilization is unraveling. Percy recovers from the poison with Chiron’s help and realizes his adventures are not yet over. He is a hero now and must fight the rise of the Titans.
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Major Characters
Percy Jackson : The protagonist ; a twelve year old boy who has been diagnosed with ADHD as well as dyslexia. Percy discovers that he is the son Greek god Poseidon and that his disabilities are natural for demigods, also known as half-bloods. He embarks on an adventure to find Zeus’s master lightning bolt to prevent a disastrous war among the gods. 
Annabeth Chase : A twelve year old daughter of the goddess Athena. Annabeth was brought to Camp Half- Blood by Luke Castellan and Thalia Grace. She helps nurse Percy after he is attacked by the Minotaur . She also accompanies Percy on his quest to find Zeus’s master bolt. Annabeth has been going to Camp Half-Blood since she was seven and possesses a necklace that has beads from every year she survive at Camp Half – Blood.
Grover Underwood : Grover is a satyr and Percy’s best friend. Initially, he was undercover as a boy in search of potential demigods. He leads Percy to the Camp after his mother is taken and accompanies him on his journey to find Zeus’s master bolt. His lifelong dream is to find the god of wild places, Pan.
Luke Castellan : The main antagonist and a son of Herms ; he is the counselor of the Hermes cabin and help train Percy in the art of battle. Later, he betrays Percy and leaves him for dead. Revealing that he works for the Titan Kronos.
Chiron : the centaur and healer of legend, now assistant director of Camp Half- Blood 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 aword said to have been used by Poseidon
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.
