You may have heard about the series, Percy Jackson and the Olypians, by Rick Riordan. In the first book, The Lightning Thief, we meet a twelve and a half year old boy, Percy Jackson, who has been in and out of various schools all of his life. He is also being raised by a single mother. At school , he has on friend named Grover, who seems to have a strange addiction to enchiladas.
While attending his latest school, Percy goes on a class field trip, in which something strange happens involving Mrs. Dodds, his math teacher, and a disabled mythology teacher. As soon as this field trip takes place, Percy's whole world turns upside down. Even though he has never felt normal, Percy begins to feel even more like an outcast when he finds out his best friend is a mythical satyr, and his mythology teacher is a centaur named Chiron. He is taken to Camp Half-Blood, where he meets others like himself who are out of place in the real world. Oh, and did I mention that Camp Half-Blood is a camp for children who are demigods? These demigods were children of the twelve Greek gods and goddesses. During his time here, Percy discovers that he is the son of Poseiden. However, the brothers Zeus, Poseiden, and Hades all took an oath not to have children because demigods born from these three are the most powerful. After Zeus's magical lightning bolt is stolen, he assumes that Percy stole it. Percy must go on a quest to recover this bolt with Grover the satyr, and his new friend , Annabeth, daughter of Athena.
The Lightning Thief is the first in the series of five. It is an excellent book that makes mythology interesting for someone who finds it a bore. The Lightning Thief is also a movie, coming to theaters Febuary 12 of 2010. Logan Lerman is portraying Percy Jackson. I'd like to point out, however, that Logan Lerman is eighteen, while in the books, Percy Jackson is twelve and a half.