In my last column, we visited a new and extremely fun series of books: Rick Riordan‘s Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I think that Riordan, a San Antonio author and father of children with learning disabilities, really has something going here. I reviewed the first two books, The Lightning Thief (2005, Miramax Books) and The Sea of Monsters (2006, Miramax Books) in the January issue of 2e Newsletter.  Here, we focus on the third volume in the series, The Titan’s Curse (2007, Miramax Books). Just for your information, a fourth volume, Battle of the Labyrinth (2008, Miramax Books) is being released this month; and, as you might expect, I placed a pre-publication order.

The premise of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is that here in our contemporary world there are Heroes – heroes in the Classical sense: off-spring of a human parent and a god or goddess of Greek Mythology. It seems that these “half bloods,” as they are also called, are very dyslexic due to the fact that their brains are “wired” for ancient Greek. This factor is one that the “Searchers” use to locate these children.

The series hero is 12-year-old Percy Jackson, a boy who has been shifted from school to school because of learning problems due to dyslexia. He, along with several friends, becomes involved in a quest, the results of which have implications for both the mortal world and the parallel “classical” Greek world as well. 

In The Titan’s Curse, we are dealing with the mysterious identity of two siblings; the continuing saga of the return of the Titans led by Luke, a turncoat hero and a one-time friend of the trio; and a series of prophecies whose messages are unclear but obviously have a great deal of importance. As the friends race across the United States to meet some deadlines and head off a major catastrophe, their adventures are many and varied. Riordan enriches these adventures with overlays of developing relationships among the group of friends, another element to which middle school students will relate and another example of the many-faceted aspects of both Riordan’s writing and plot.

Riordan’s series has rekindled an interest in Greek mythology, once a very over-taught subject in many classrooms.  If I were to teach mythology again, I wouldn’t think about not including this series to help bring mythology alive – another hint at Riordan’s mastery.

Let me close by quoting my last column: “Percy Jackson and the Olympians brings new and fun life to Greek mythology. ” I can only say “Ditto!” and let you know that I am even more excited about this series.

Happy Reading! 

[Editor’s Note: For those who might have difficulty reading the books in this series, the first three are available as audio books.]

 

Retired from teaching in the Masters of Gifted Studies Program at Mississippi University for Women, Bob Seney is now Professor Emeritus. At conferences, he often presents a session titled “What’s New in Young Adult Literature.” Reach him at bseney@muw.edu.