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Percy Jackson and the Olympians.........


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Are these books appropriate for a 10yo boy? I don't know anything about them, but my nephew is reading them. My son read the first three chapters of his cousin's book and now wants to read them. We are conservative Christians.

 

Thanks!

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Depends on whether you have a problem with a fantasy series that has as its premise that the Olympian Gods are still having children with mortals----these children (along with the Gods and various other figures from the Greek mythos) are the main characters. They eventually find their way to and are being trained at Camp Half-blood to become heroes.

 

I know very conservative Christians who are fine with it and whose kids love the series, others who won't let their kids read it.

 

As far as appropriate for age level, my 8 yo daughter loves them (as do we), but disclaimer---we are not conservative Christians. We've really enjoyed the books on cd in the car.

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I think so -- but with the caveats that Karen listed. Basically, if you don't have a problem with your child reading D'Aulaire's Greek Myths and a bit of contemporary fantasy, I think you'll be fine with it. If you're not comfortable with your son reading the Greek myths, you will be equally uncomfortable with Percy Jackson (and your son wouldn't get the references anyway).

 

My son has read all of them, and even my seven year old daughter has read the first couple (and says she plans to read the others).

 

While the idea of the Olympians continuing to have children with modern mortals is a necessary conceit for the storyline, it's handled with subtlety, just as you would find in something like D'Aulaire's...

 

We've also gone to see Rick Riordan at least three times now. He's a genuinely nice guy, tries really hard to connect with each of his young fans (even when it means spending an afternoon signing literally *thousands* of books!), and even home schooled his youngest son.

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We like them a lot; I've read the first four and have the last (5th) on reserve at the library. DS #2 and DH are both waiting for #3 right now. :lol: I suspect we'll end up buying it. lol

 

I've actually recommended the series to several people, pair it with a good Greek Myth anthology. If you don't have an issue with the Greek myths in general you won't have a problem with Percy IMO.

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GS9 just finished the 5th book, I *had to buy it* because he was 17th in the queue at the library! We are pretty conservative Christians and I admit I did not read the series for myself. The first three were in his classroom at school. However, we discussed Greek mythology and I tied it into Acts 17. He's really fired up about all kinds of Greek history & mythology now. He's looking up Greek letters & words on the net so instead of studying Latin this summer I guess we'll be switching over to Greek.

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We've also gone to see Rick Riordan at least three times now. He's a genuinely nice guy, tries really hard to connect with each of his young fans (even when it means spending an afternoon signing literally *thousands* of books!), and even home schooled his youngest son.

 

 

dss 10 and 12 have read the complete series. As the others have said, as long as your okay with Greek mythology with a contemporary theme, you sould be fine.

 

As an aside, we too went to see Rick Riordan at his recent book signing in NJ. We had fun and meet a few other homeschooled kids who were also fans.

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BTW, Riordan is now working on his next series, which will feature Egyptian myths in the modern world. He says he's also planning to write more "next generation" books set in the world of Percy Jackson...

 

And, of course, the Lightning Thief movie is coming out early next year!

 

Lots of exciting stuff for young fans. :)

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