In Honor of Percy Jackson

Today is bittersweet for me. Today is the release of the final book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I can't wait to find out how Percy's prophecy will affect his quest to save the world. I mean, our lives hang in the balance so it's kind of important. :-D

But as excited and happy I am to listen to the story, I am saddened because we it seems that this will be the last time we'll catch a glimpse of the realities that half-bloods face everyday. I mean, that big hairy guy you're sitting next to on the train just might be a cyclops or other monster from Greek mythology. It's just a good thing that we mortals are pretty much uninteresting to these beasts -- the subways of New York are savage enough without adding man-eating monsters.

Speaking of New York City, Mr. Riordan, Chief Scribe of Camp Half-blood, explains that Olympus follows the pinnacle of Western Civilization, and right now is located on the top of the Empire State Building in NYC. Zeus wears a pinstripe suit, Ares is garbed as a Hell's Angel motorcyclist, and Hera is dressed like Donna Reed or the mom in "Leave It to Beaver". Artemis is a feminist, Hades is an overworked bureaucrat and the list goes on. Being a Greek mythology aficionado, it's very entertaining seeing these ancient Gods hanging out in the Big Apple having parties on the top of the Empire State Building. I mean, Hermes jogging around in his running suit with his caduceus (disguised as a cell phone) drinking Coca-Cola isn't exactly the traditional way of thinking about the ancient ones.

There are six books in the series:

• "The Lightning Thief"
  
• "The Sea of Monsters"
  
• "The Titan's Curse"
• "Battle of the Labyrinth"
• Percy Jackson: The Demigod Files"

And the final book, which was released today:

• "The Last Olympian"

There is also a companion book called:

• "Demigods and Monsters: Your Favorite Authors on Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series"
  

I haven't "read" that one yet since it's not an audiobook so I'll have to read it the traditional way.

The basic premise of the story is that Percy Jackson is an undiscovered demigod that has been accused of stealing Zeus' master bolt. Hades has sent his minions after Percy, Zeus wants him dead and there's a third, unknown party that is also in the mix.

Percy doesn't know about any of this. He's just struggling through his class work, trying not to get expelled and trying to figure out why he doesn't fit in anywhere. Then one terrifying night everything changes and Percy must quickly get up to speed on the "real" world of Olympian intrigue, betrayal, friendship and powers he never knew he possessed, before the Olympian gods kill him.

Obviously Percy survives and each book builds upon the events in "The Lightning Thief." We learn more about the demigod world and the treacherous plans of the unknown instigator behind most of Percy's troubles.

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Before going any further, I want to give a rousing applause to his alter audio ego, Jesse Bernstein. Jesse Bernstein is the perfect narrator for this series. He captures the youth, the wonder and essence of Percy Jackson, an unlikely key to the survival of the Olympians. Each of his characterizations is well planned and executed.

If you've listened to many audiobooks, you'll understand that some narrators are very dry, can't keep their characters voices consistent and make the book uninteresting. Sometimes, I've even had to stop listening to the audiobook and just go to the library and finish the novel myself because the reader was just that bad!

But Jesse is a delightful reader and I wish him well in the rest of his audiobook career.

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Enough about the alter ego, let's start singing the praise of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson. The thing that I liked right away about Percy is his complete candor and lack of artifice. He doesn't take himself too seriously, and when you meet some of the other demigods you'll see why this is so refreshing. His mom is really cool – I want to be just like her when my kids are teenagers. She is willing to accept Percy for who he is – she disciplined him, advised him and set a good example—but ultimately she trusts him to do the right thing. Sometimes trusting that our kids have what it takes is the hardest job of all.

My husband, up until the past few weeks, thought that we (the girls and I) were a little nutty because of our enthusiasm for the series. But has actually become a bigger fan than we are! He's currently up to "The Battle of the Labyrinth" and has decided that aside from Percy, his favorite character is Chiron, the Centaur Teacher of Heroes. He's credited Chiron for teaching him how to be a mentor to his eldest daughter, who was making him just a tad bit crazy with her decisions of late. So now when he's ready to blow he asks himself, "What would Chiron do?" So far it's been working, so I'll leave it at that. :-D

My girls love Percy because he's funny. One of the things that makes him such an entertaining character is that he comes across as a real person; a really funny person. One example of this is when he's fighting the Chimera and has to jump out of a window from a great height. He doesn't try to fix it up that he's a brave guy – he reports that as he fell the only thing that he was thinking was "AAAAAAAH!" They also enjoy the internal disputes amongst the demigod camp (which is located on Long Island, don't you know?) and the Olympian Gods. The personalities are very vivid and it's easy to get caught up in their world.

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The series is very enjoyable and has enough real life in it to make it an excellent jumping point for discussions on loyalty, love and friendship. Rick Riordan has also created a curriculum guide for those who want to do a unit study on his book, "The Lightning Thief" or Greek mythology. Rick was a teacher before he became a novelist, so he also includes his favorite mythological sources. It's a free download. You can also find a teachers' guide to "The Titan's Curse", some videos and other cool learning activities submitted by teachers and students who also love Percy.

You can read all about Rick Riordan, Percy's world and his other book series (children and adult) in the works. I was especially touched to read how his two son's interests and struggles helped shape Percy Jackson's world. I guess, as parents, we need to let ourselves be inspired by our children just as much as we strive to inspire them to be the best that they can be. Thanks guys for getting your dad to write this series!

All hail Percy Jackson and the Olympians!

P.S. I've found one consolation. I can now get fully absorbed in his new 10 book collaborative series called The 39 Clues. And if you like your kids playing educational video games, they definitely should visit the 39 Clues game website that ties in with the books.