The Lightning Thief

If you teach intermediate kids and you haven't read the Lightning Thief then you should. I would think the obvious link would be for 6th grade, since the social studies standards focus on Egypt (and Greece to a lesser extent). The next few weeks will likely feature more recaps of books being read than classroom/planning related items. That is on hiatus until July!

What I liked...

I enjoyed how you could relate to who the characters were. You felt like they were 6th graders because of how they talked and how they acted (traits of good writing). I also liked the Ancient Greek interwoven, seamlessly providing mythology along with the storyline. I had forgotten much of the mythology, and it was provided very nicely. Not a lecture, but not too child-like either.

What I didn't like as much...

My only real qualm would be the length. It was 375 pages, which made it a tad long. I lose interest relatively quickly, which is probably a good omen for this book. If it hadn't been interesting than I probably would have set it down. Instead I plowed through almost 200 pages in 2+ hours (after nights of 10-30 pages- I don't read much on school nights, too tired). Some of my kids will struggle to get through it because of the length, not to mention the lack of schema. I also found some of the plot twists to be too predictable. The saving grace, which sets up the second book, is the ending.

Next up: The Penderwicks. Very interesting contrast before leaping into the Sea of Monsters