Description: Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse -- Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends -- one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena -- Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.

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Children's Literature Review: If you want a young person to read a book, take a lesson from Rick Riordan and start it by warning readers to close the book right away and go back to their uninformed lives. This book will bring out the readers, especially the boys, with its fast pace and adventure. Good news for Greek mythology enthusiasts: the gods are alive and well in the United States. Perseus (Percy) Jackson is a 12-year-old half-blood doing time at Yancy Academy, a school for troubled kids. He is unaware of his true identity until the truth reveals itself in unusual ways. After losing his mother, he ends up at a summer camp for half-bloods run by Dionysus (the god of wine) and is shown to his cabin by his former Latin teacher, who turns out to be a centaur. (There is a constant thread of connection between the real and surreal, apparent in the catchy chapter titles like "A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers.") Percy carries his bad boy image into the other world and becomes a suspect in the disappearance of Zeus's light...

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