Books for Boys: Percy Jackson and The Olympians*
Thursday, June 17th, 2010By Glinda
“Action, mommy. A really good book has lots of action.”
If you are looking for books that the boy in your life will look forward to reading, take it from my seven year old. They love action.
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan delivers exactly that. Beginning with The Lighning Thief and ending with The Last Olympian, even a fairly reluctant reader will be hard-pressed to put the books down. Not only do they move along briskly, with plenty of the aforementioned action, but there is quite a bit of humor, topped off with a nice dusting of Greek mythology. I should know, because I read all of them before my son did.
For, uh, research purposes, of course.
The books follow demigod Percy Jackson through five years of living out a prophecy foretold by the Oracle of Delphi. Who happens to be a mummy in an attic at the demigod summer camp. Percy must battle gods and monsters in order to save Mount Olympus, which is located at the top of the Empire State Building. Natch. Throw in some centaurs, labyrinths, Mist, and capricious Greek gods, and tell me how you can possibly resist.
I highly recommend the books for that certain someone who is bound to be whining about being half-dead from boredom in about two weeks from now.
*I bought all of these myself at Target. No freebies here. Now normally I don’t buy my books at Target, but I have a seven month old, so you’ve got to cut me some slack.