Book Club: The Lightning Thief
Not gonna lie, I LIVE for Food in Fiction book club!! This time the whole (mostly) family was excited to get involved because we discussed the book, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. (You think the recent Amazon series had anything to do with their excitement?!)
I didn’t let them participate in the discussion, but they sure as heck enjoyed taste-testing the snacks!
Book Club prep!
Now, I don’t know too much about author Rick Riordan, but I do appreciate his inspiration behind the Percy Jackson character and series, which he developed to help his son, Haley, cope with dyslexia and ADHD. That just goes to show that the most brilliant stories are often born from deeply personal motivations!
What a sweet dedication page!
Now back to Percy. In full disclosure, this was the second read-through for me. I had read through the series 15 YEARS AGO (yes, I’m oldish) and recommend the series to anyone and everyone. Unashamedly, I have had and will always have a soft spot in my heart for Percy. Hard stop.
The Percy Jackson Series.
If you haven’t delved into the Greek-mythology inspired world of Percy Jackson, then I feel sorry for you let me give you a quick synopsis of The Lightning Thief, which is in fact Book 1 of a 5-book series.
Thirteen-year-old Percy Jackson has led a rather tumultuous childhood - living with his (single) mom and stinky, unkind stepdad. He’s bounced from school to school because of behavioral mishaps (one can only take so much bullying) and yearns to fill the void children often experience growing up without a second parent all the while struggling with dyslexia and ADHD.
Percy’s world changes in a flash when he learns not only is he a powerful demigod - a child with a human and a god for a parent - but he is also the son of the Sea God Poseidon, one of the most powerful gods of Olympus. This makes him a convenient target for destruction, as he is blamed for stealing Zeus’ master lightning bolt. In The Lightning Thief, Percy explores his new-found powers, risks life and limb to prove his innocence, and makes sacrifices to restore Zeus’ master bolt before a war between the gods breaks out.
You get to visit places like this in Percy’s world for FREE!
Now that you know the basic plot of the book - and Percy’s natural inclination for the sea and water thanks to his godly heritage - some of the food selections for this Food in Fiction book club will make a little more sense.
Hats off to Riordan for ALL THE FOOD in this book. I basically stopped keeping track of all the food mentioned in this book. (Kinda makes sense, though, when you think of his young hero - middle-school boys are highly motivated by food, constantly seek it out, and think about it when they aren’t consuming it!) Cheeseburgers. Fries. BBQ. Blue Jelly Beans. Blue Birthday Cake. Blue Chocolate Chip Cookies. Seven Layer Dip. Soda (Diet Coke or cherry coke, both blue thanks to the magic of the gods!). Ambrosia. The list goes ON AND ON.
For book club, we decided to focus on anything “blue,” inspired by one of the unsung heroes of the book, Sally Jackson (Percy’s mother), who is known for making all kinds of blue food to subtly protest her grumpy husband’s emphatic belief that “there is no such thing as blue food!!”
Our blue food!
We enjoyed BLUE corn chips with guac (not Sally’s 7-layer dip due to some allergy sensitivities), BLUEberries, BLUEberry muffins, BLUE iced sugar cookies (seashells and starfish!), Jelly Beans (sadly, not blue, because I couldn’t have them delivered on time), and BLUE smoothies (coconut milk, orange juice, frozen banana, and frozen pineapple - why didn’t I have seconds?!)
Conversations always flow freely at book club, prompted by a few well researched questions (thank you ChatGPT!), and we happily sat for two hours discussing this book.
What we loved:
We loved the emphasis on friendships. At the start of the book, Percy is mostly a loner with perhaps one awkward friend, Grover, who Percy often shields and protects from bullies. Throughout his quest, Percy develops fierce friendships that continue and deepen through the series. Loyalty to his friends becomes his “hero’s strength.”
We also loved the modern setting of Greek mythology. Riordan has a fun take on the Greek gods, whose penchant for western culture over the eons has them taking up residence in New York City unbeknownst to we ignorant humans. The gods are crafted with varying senses of humor and each engage or disengage in the human world depending on their interest in human affairs. The god of the dead, Hades, for example, is portrayed as more of a stressed out, overworked overlord rather than the menacing welder of death and destruction we were expecting.
What we disliked:
This series is a middle grade read, so of course we weren’t the target audience. For that reason, the pacing is quite fast. That’s not usually a problem per se except for when you want to linger a little bit more in the world-building (we’re looking at you, Lotus Casino!). Riordan does a brilliant job of progressing the external plot while growing each character in a way that feels natural to the story progression.
The only other thing that felt “off” to me this time around was the fact that (spoiler alert) Sally Jackson kills her husband at the end of the book. I didn’t bat an eyelash about that fact when I first read the book, but now that I think about it, the fact that she unashamedly kills her husband with impunity is a bit disturbing. What’s more, Percy himself - who has sworn not to hurt humans (monsters, only!) - plants the idea and provides the means for Sally to kill Gabe. To be fair, Riordan references the act via Sally’s letter to Percy in such a light-hearted way that most readers gloss over the crime with a quick fist-pump while their internal judge screams “he deserved it!” (Yes, he did, but still….).
All in all, the Food in Fiction book club rated this a 4.25/5 stars. Definitely worth the read!!!
#justkeepreating
Does this sound like a book you might enjoy? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Reating!