Percy Jackson

One of our newly discovered book series is being made into a movie! Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Lightening Thief will be released in February 2010. We are very excited.

My nephew Austin read the book first. He asked me to read it because he wanted someone to discuss it with him. It involves some Greek mythology and my sister knows I love mythology stories. Austin called me DAILY until I finished the book. Heather read it after me, followed by Emily, Grandpa, and then all of Austin's brothers. His mother and some of our friends eventually read it, too.

There are now five books in the series, so we are hoping this will be like Harry Potter and all the books will be made into movies. Chris Columbus, who directed the first two Harry Potter movies, is also directing The Lightening Thief. We hope he is as faithful to the book with this movie as he was with the Harry Potter movies.

From the book we learn that the ancient Greek gods are still alive and well and living in America. They are also still having children with mortals. The half-bloods, or demigods, have life pretty tough because monsters and other mean creatures are drawn to them. Most of them eventually find their way to Camp Half-Blood in New York, where they learn survival skills for the outside world. Like Hogwarts School in the Harry Potter series, Camp Half-Blood is protected. The monsters cannot get in without an invitation.

Percy finds out that he is a demigod after some nasty experiences at school. He heads to Camp Half-Blood, where he learns some other interesting facts. Zeus and the other Olympian gods reside above the Empire State Building in New York City. Hades has taken up residence beneath Los Angeles. If you want to enter the Underworld, you must travel to LA first. Percy doesn't really want to enter the Underworld, but he has to go there in order to clear his name. He is being accused of stealing something from Zeus....and Zeus is not someone you want to upset. Good thing he has a few friends who volunteer to travel with him.

Check out a summary of the book or the cast list for the movie. Maybe we'll see you at the theater in February.