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Book Reviews of The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Bk 1)

The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Bk 1)
The Lightning Thief The Graphic Novel - Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Bk 1
Author: Rick Riordan, Robert Venditti (Adapter)
ISBN-13: 9781423117100
ISBN-10: 1423117107
Publication Date: 10/12/2010
Pages: 128
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Rating:
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 7

3.4 stars, based on 7 ratings
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

3 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

GeniusJen avatar reviewed The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Bk 1) on + 5322 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Reviewed by Kira M for TeensReadToo.com

Percy Jackson is twelve years old, has been kicked out of every school he's ever gone to, and is seen as quite a troublemaker. With ADHD and dyslexia and a reputation for trouble following him wherever he goes, Percy has learned to not get too attached to any one school, set of friends, or teachers, for that matter.

Yancey Academy has been no different, except for two things. His best friend, Grover, and his Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner, seem to really care about him. While on a school field trip, Percy has quite the bad day. He almost drowns Nancy Bobofit, the school bully; gets attacked by Mrs. Dodds, the math teacher; and then gets told by everyone that there never was a teacher named Mrs. Dodds at Yancey academy.

Confused and mistrusting of the two he had come to call friends, Percy grows distant and ends up getting kicked out of yet another school. After the last day, Percy and Grover get onto the city bus to go home. While there, Percy sees three old ladies cutting a piece of yarn. Grover freaks out and asks Percy to wait for him while he runs into a store. Percy ignores him and heads home.

Through a series of bad choices and a fight with a foul-tempered, monstrous beast, Percy's mom appears to be killed and the two boys end up at Camp Half-Blood. If monsters aren't enough to take in, Percy finds out his father is Poseidon, the god of the sea, and that his uncle, Zeus, is demanding that Percy return the master lightning bolt by Summer Solstice or he'll be destroyed and another World War will begin. His only hopes are Grover and a smart-aleck girl named Annabeth.

Can Percy find the master lighting bot and save everyone's skin, or will the gods start a war bigger than anything anyone has seen before?

A great graphic novel adaptation of the original THE LIGHTNING THIEF book. The illustrations are wonderful. The novel is fairly true to the original book; the plot remains intact and is, therefore, well-written. The characters are true to their natures and are well-developed. Readers who are fans of Rick Riordan, action-adventure, fantasy, graphic novels, and mythology will all enjoy THE LIGHTNING THIEF: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL.
GeniusJen avatar reviewed The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Bk 1) on + 5322 more book reviews
Reviewed by Kira M for TeensReadToo.com

Percy Jackson is twelve years old, has been kicked out of every school he's ever gone to, and is seen as quite a troublemaker. With ADHD and dyslexia and a reputation for trouble following him wherever he goes, Percy has learned to not get too attached to any one school, set of friends, or teachers, for that matter.

Yancey Academy has been no different, except for two things. His best friend, Grover, and his Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner, seem to really care about him. While on a school field trip, Percy has quite the bad day. He almost drowns Nancy Bobofit, the school bully; gets attacked by Mrs. Dodds, the math teacher; and then gets told by everyone that there never was a teacher named Mrs. Dodds at Yancey academy.

Confused and mistrusting of the two he had come to call friends, Percy grows distant and ends up getting kicked out of yet another school. After the last day, Percy and Grover get onto the city bus to go home. While there, Percy sees three old ladies cutting a piece of yarn. Grover freaks out and asks Percy to wait for him while he runs into a store. Percy ignores him and heads home.

Through a series of bad choices and a fight with a foul-tempered, monstrous beast, Percy's mom appears to be killed and the two boys end up at Camp Half-Blood. If monsters aren't enough to take in, Percy finds out his father is Poseidon, the god of the sea, and that his uncle, Zeus, is demanding that Percy return the master lightning bolt by Summer Solstice or he'll be destroyed and another World War will begin. His only hopes are Grover and a smart-aleck girl named Annabeth.

Can Percy find the master lighting bot and save everyone's skin, or will the gods start a war bigger than anything anyone has seen before?

A great graphic novel adaptation of the original THE LIGHTNING THIEF book. The illustrations are wonderful. The novel is fairly true to the original book; the plot remains intact and is, therefore, well-written. The characters are true to their natures and are well-developed. Readers who are fans of Rick Riordan, action-adventure, fantasy, graphic novels, and mythology will all enjoy THE LIGHTNING THIEF: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL.
ophelia99 avatar reviewed The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Bk 1) on + 2527 more book reviews
This is the first in the graphic novel series retelling the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Riordan. This graphic novel was well-illustrated and did a good job telling the story; the story is darker in tone though and had less humor in it than the books.

Anyone who is a fan of Riordan's works knows the story already. Percy Jackson finds out that he is a half-godling and gets blamed for the theft of Zues's lightening bolt. Then he and some of his new friends from Camp Half Blood set out on a quest to find the lightening blot and clear Percy's name.

The illustration was well done and matched the tone of the story. It is in full color and represents the characters well, the only character that was a lot different from the series is Grover...he is not pictured at all how I imagined and doesn't need his crutches to get around. Although it was well done there isn't anything really stylistically or artistically unique or compelling about the illustration.

The story hits most of the main story points; although there wasn't as much humor present as in the book series. Percy is a bit more brooding and the atmosphere is darker. In general it is a good translation of Percy and the Olympians to a comic-book like style.

Overall I enjoyed reading this to relive the series; I didn't find anything especially compelling about either the illustration or the story itself. The illustration is well-done but a bit darker; the story is also darker and less humorous than originally. The author/illustrators did a good job of converting this story to something that has a more comic book feel to it. I will probably read future installments just because I like the series so much. I would recommend reading the original books first because they are just hands down better, but this graphic novel does a great job of representing the series and helping readers to relive it. For those who are interesting in middle grade level graphic novel I have to recommend The Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi and Bone by Jeff Smith...both of these are absolutely spectacular.