The New Year "To Be Read Pile"

I took a break from Young Adult Fiction over the holidays to read a stack of books that have been collecting dust on my night stand. Some excellent books that included 1, 000 White Women-The Journal of Mary Dodd by Jim Fergus and Say You're One of Them by Uwen Akpan. Now I'm ready to jump back into my favorite genre. My list of books for the new year year include:

1. The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

2. The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

3. Children of the Lamp-The Akhenaten Adventure by P.B. Kerr

4. The Cupcake Queen by Heather Hepler

5. The Alchemyst-The secrets of the immortal Nicholas Flamel

6. The Seer of Shadows by Avi

7. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

8. Masquerade by Melissa De La Cruz

9. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

Happy New Year and Happy Reading!!!

The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief

Book One

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

By Rick Riordan

2006

12 year old New Yorker Percy Jackson is having a bad day. He was kicked out of boarding school, found out that his best friend is a goat and that his real father is Ruler of the Sea according to Greek mythology.

This fast paced story combines adventure, action and an awesome lesson mythology.

Percy tells the story with humor and awe as he discovers that he is a demigod-half human, half god. There is a modern day feud happening between Poseidon, Hades and Zeus which will lead to war unless Percy who has been accused of stealing Zeus's master lightning bolt can find and return it. He has just ten days before the world is plunged into total chaos.

The twist of mythology being alive and well in a modern world made this book a really fun read. Mount Olympus is located on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building in New York, Hades is in L.A. and Percy has run ins with Medusa and Ares along the way.

Percy is a great kid with a lot of issues. Abandonment, dyslexia, trouble in school and ADHD.

This reluctant hero embarks upon a journey with a seemingly impossible task and along the way discovers friendship, loyalty and the ability to do more then he ever thought possible.

It's a great story with a great character. I look forward to reading more of Percy Jackson's adventures. This is the first book in a series of five. I recommend this book for ages 10 and up.

This book is available for check out at the Salmon Public Library.