Skip to main content

You Need to Read: Percy Jackson

I was a kid myself when The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan was published, and it didn't take long for the Percy Jackson series to take the world by storm. Being the son of a Poseidon, Percy Jackson has some unique challenges as a half-blood. Here's some books that I think could've helped Percy when he was on his adventures trying to save the world:

Written by Kenny Curtis and Jillian Hughes
Illustrated by Javier Espila
Washington D.C.: National Geographic, 2024. Informational. 191 pages.

Percy, I know Chiron did a good job teaching you about mythology in Latin class, but this book is sure to be good to have on hand while you're traveling across the United States. Greeking Out is written in a kid-friendly voice with vivid illustrations and a sometimes-snarky tone (much like Percy himself). It also presents real-life creatures and places along with the information about Greek mythology.

Written by Joshua G. Shifrin
Illustrated by Tracy Nishimura Bishop
Washington D.C.: Magination Press, 2021. Informational. 131 pages.

While your ADHD makes it easier for you to focus on multiple things in combat, it can be hard to focus in class. This informational book is from the perspective of four different middle-schoolers with ADHD, who figure out over 100 study skills to make school easier for them. These skills are presented as different "tricks" that can be tried, encouraging students to experiment and find out what works for them.

Crayola: Cooking with Color
By Insight Editions
San Rafael, CA: Insight Editions, 2023. Informational. 126 pages.

Percy, you need to learn to appreciate foods that aren't blue. Your mom's blue chocolate chip cookies will always be special, but the other colors of food are also delicious! In this cook book, you will find recipes for chefs of all different skills, so there will be plenty of dishes you can make with your mom, with your friends in Aunty Em's kitchen, or all by yourself!

Medusa
By Katherine Marsh
New York: Clarion Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2024. Fiction. 277 pages.

Speaking of Aunty Em... this novel is about a girl who's not descended from a Greek god, but from Medusa! Ava Baldwin travels to a school in Venice for children who are related to all different kinds of Greek monsters. But after her friend is punished for challenging a teacher, Ava starts to realize that this school has a secret: one that might only exist to keep the status quo. I think Percy would like this book because like Ava, Percy is not content just abiding by what's been decreed by the gods as "normal."

The Last Shadow Warrior
By Sam Subity
New York: Scholastic Press, 2021. Fiction. 313 pages.

If Percy wants a story about a tween with a great mythological destiny thrust upon them that isn't Greek, I think he'll love The Last Shadow Warrior. It tells the story of Abby, who has been training to be a Viking Aesir, someone who protects the world from Grendels. When she and her father are attacked by the monsters, they travel to Vale Hall, just to find that the Viking council doesn't believe that Grendels still exist. Abby has to fight to prove that she isn't lying and to save her father's life.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...

Review: Kareem Between

  Kareem Between By Shifa Saltagi Safadi New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2024. Fiction. 324 pages.  Kareem loves football and as he gets ready to start seventh grade he dreams of someday becoming the first Syrian American NFL player. Seventh grade is not off to a great start for Kareem, after football tryouts don't go as he had planned, his best friend moves away, and his mom returns to Syria to help bring his sick grandfather to the US for treatment. So when Austin, the quarterback and coach's son, offers to talk to his dad and get Kareem on the football team in the spring, if he will cheat and do his homework for him, Kareem agrees. Kareem really wants to fit in at school and he is desperate to find a friend, but deep down he knows that doing Austin's homework isn't the right thing to do. And to make things harder, Kareem's mom asks him to be a friend to Fadi, a Syrian Christian refugee. He knows he should stand up for Fadi and help him adjust to the new school,...

Review: A World Without Summer

A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, a Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out Written by Nicholas Day Illustrated by Yas Imamura New York: Random House Studio, 2025. Informational. 294 pages. In 1815 on a small island in Indonesia, Mount Tambora erupted. The blast was the largest in human history, and one of the deadliest. Though it couldn't be understood at the time, the deadly blast half a world away would lead to catastrophic famine in Europe, prompt westward expansion in America, and inspire the novel Frankenstein  by Mary Shelley. The global climate disaster following the explosion also led to inventions like modern meteorology and the early invention of the bicycle. The people living at the time couldn't have seen how everything was connected, but this fast paced narrative assures that readers will. As he did in 2024's Sibert winner The Mona Lisa Vanishes, Nicholas Day does an impressive job of weaving together different historical events into one single, compell...