This guest post is by Heidi Angell, author of Creative Exercises to Inspire and Royal Prince Vince. For more on Heidi, visit her website at http://angellslife.com/
Synopsis: The Lightning Thief introduces us to Percy Jackson, a young man who would typically be labeled a trouble maker. Percy has bad grades, suffers from ADHD, and has been kicked out of more schools than can be counted. But he has a mother who loves him and tries to assure him that he is worth more than anything to her, no matter what the world and his step-dad, smelly Gabe, think. Come to find out, Percy is pretty valuable. He is a demi-god, or half-blood, and all the trouble he has had is because of his unique gifts bestowed upon him by his father, a Greek god. He finds this out about the time that his mother disappears after being attacked by the minotaur. Then he gets sent on a quest to stop the gods from starting what would amount to the Apocalypse because they act like siblings. Fun stuff.
Review: I actually read Percy Jackson when the first movie was just coming out. This was my fix to fill the void of Harry Potter. I enjoyed it well enough, as it played on one of my oldest loves, Greek Mythology. But I recently re-read it with my kids. That was a hard decision for me. My oldest is ten, my youngest seven. I wasn't sure if they were ready for this. We had only just started reading Harry Potter and that was a bit scary for them. But my eldest was having trouble in school, was getting bullied and was developing a nasty chip on his shoulder. I originally started out reading it with him because he was frustrated how long it was taking to read Harry Potter. (His brother's attention span is shorter, so we are lucky to get through a chapter a night.)
I was nervous, but I needed him to have positive role models. He is a super smart kid, but has had so much pressure put on him to succeed that he has sort of given up in school. It hurts to be teased for being so smart. I thought it would be good for us to bond over this in the afternoons, while the family read HP together at night. Next thing I know poor Harry Potter has been abandoned and both my children are avid for chapter after chapter of Percy Jackson. I liked the book before, but watching my children's reactions has given me a whole new level of appreciation. They cry when Percy loses his mom. They are interrupting at every turn, trying to guess what will happen next. One chapter a night is not enough. And they want to know "why" about every hard issue! It has led to some great discussions!
Rating: **** Four out of five stars!
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