The Lightning Thief

Hi Megan!

Picking the first Young Adult novel for review proved to be far more difficult than I anticipated.  Truthfully, with the way I devour any and all books from that genre, I thought it would be quite easy. But for my first review, I wanted to choose a book of note. So when my first two choices, Switched by Amanda Hocking and Birthmarked by Caragh O’Brien, were only “okay,” entertaining but not thought provoking or awe-inspiring, I was frustrated to say the least (however, you should still totally read them. Just saying). Fortunately, my fall-back proved to be just as good as the hype surrounding it suggested. I am talking, of course, about Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief.

While I am not above reading a book because it’s receiving a lot of media attention, my primary interest in The Lightning Thief comes from its basis in Greek mythology.  As a kid, I read my Grandma’s Readers Digest book about Myths and Legends, especially those of Greek heroes and heroines. And while it’s been years since I’ve explored the subject, I still have that child-like love for tales of supernatural forces and insurmountable quests.

Now, to the book review. Boy, does Riordan know his way around a compelling introduction. The opening words are of warning--beware the reading of this book, because once such things are read they cannot become unknown. Not only did it remind me of Lemony Snickett's A Series of Unfortunate Events, but it really is an ingenious strategy for attracting young boys (and girls).  Assuming his ideal audience is around 10 years old, when kids are are feeling the first stirrings of adulthood and determined to push the boundaries of what is deemed permissible by authority figures, telling a child to put the book down immediately is sure to have the opposite effect. As an adult reader, such an introduction is just as poignant, since I was immediately drawn into the page's forbidden content.
The remainder of the text was just as compelling as the opening words. Though this story lacks the romantic subplot typical to many of my reading choices, I did enjoy the break from the romance plot line. Instead I was transported to a place where, while the young body may be feeling those first inklings of attraction for a friend, such things were frivolous in light of the tasks ahead whose outcomes would determine the fate of the universe! The hero, young Perseus Jackson, also has a very adult sense of sarcasm, which can again be appreciated by both adolescent and aged readers.
What's perhaps most fun about reading this book, in a nerdy, English-major-y sort of way, is finding all the ways The Lightning Thief conforms to what we learned in our Children's Lit class. Remember that class? We hadn't met yet, but later when we were paired for our thesis work, we discovered that we had both been enrolled in the course. Most of the time when I read books for pleasure, I try not to analyze it from a literary perspective, preferring to let any insights come to me naturally rather than forcing them. This is one such book where my analytic training not only kicked in, but actually functioned to make the book much more compelling. I won't give anything away, but I can't wait to hear what sort of things you pick up on.

Keep Calm and Read On,

Becca