The Lightning Thief
By Rick Riordan

Summary
An adventure-quest with a hip edge. At first glance, Perseus Jackson seems like a loser (readers meet him at a boarding school for troubled youth), but he's really the son of Poseidon and a mortal woman. As he discovers his heritage, his mother is captured and falls into mortal danger. The gods (still very active in the 21st-century world) are about to go to war over a lost thunderbolt, so Percy and sidekicks Grover (a young satyr) and Annabeth (daughter of Athena) set out to retrieve it. Many close calls and monster-attacks later, they enter Hades's realm (via L.A.). A virtuoso description of the Underworld is matched by a later account of Olympus (hovering 600 floors above Manhattan). There's great reviews of classic Greek myth and legend, and characters like Medusa, Procrustes, Charon, and the Eumenides get updates. Some of the Labors of Heracles or Odysseus's adventures are recycled, but excellently retold to capture the hearts and minds of a new generation.

Analysis
This is a great book that I personally enjoyed reading. The book falls into the fantasy genre and is an excellent way to introduce Greek mythology. I love how the author updated all of the myths while still staying close the to meaning of the original myths. I would have my students pick out some of their favorite myths in the book and do a research project on it. They would have the option of doing a written report, a diorama, or some kind of acting skit of their myth. Another activity I would have my students do is a creative writing assignment where they are a new arrival at Camp Half Blood. They would have to tell who their parents were and how did they got to Camp Half Blood.