Today our group did a review on the first two chapters of the book, “Percy Jackson; The Sea of Monsters” by Rick Riordan. The story starts off with Percy having a nightmare about Grover, his best friend, being chased by a horrific monster around Florida (though why he knew that, he didn’t know). Grover was muttering, “Have to get away. Have to warn them!” as he ran around the city for his life. He hid in a bridal boutique and the monster fortunately passed by the shop. Just when he thought it was gone, lightning suddenly flashed, the entire front of the store exploded and a monstrous voice bellowed, “MIIIIINE!” Percy woke up with a start and realised it was all a dream. He noticed a shadow flickr across his bedroom window, but he thought it was his imagination as his mother called him for breakfast. It was his last day of the school year and it was the first time he had survived almost a year without getting expelled. He was supposed to go to Camp Half-Blood, his favourite place in the world, but his mother had bad news for him. Chiron contacted her saying that he thinks Percy shouldn’t go back to camp just yet. Something bad was going on, but she refused to tell him about it. He left the house reluctantly for school when he saw a human silhouette against the brick wall of a building across the street that belonged to no one. It rippled and vanished as soon as it appeared. He had a bad feeling about this.
Percy’s day started off normal. His school, Meriwether College Prep, was a “progressive” school, which meant the students sat on beanbags instead of chairs, they didn’t get grades, the teachers wore jeans and rock concert t-shirts to work... basically a school for troubled kids, more or less. He had made a friend called Tyson - he was massive and built like an Abominable Snowman, but he cried a lot and was scared of just about everything (including his own reflection). He was abandoned by his parents at a young age and currently lives in a refrigerator box in an alley. He was adopted by the school as part of a community service project so the students would feel good about themselves, but they couldn’t tolerate him. When they found out that he was just a big softie, they started bullying him to feel good instead. His only friend was Percy, which meant Percy’s only friend was Tyson as well. They were just having their end-of-term examinations that day - for English, the students had read a book called “Lord of the Flies” where all the kids get stranded on an island and get crazy, so the teachers sent them into the break yard to spend an hour with no adult supervision to see what would happen. The class bully, Matt Sloan, was organising massive wedgie contests, pebble fights, and a full-tackle basketball game. When Sloan was just about to give Tyson a massive wedgie, he swatted him away out of panic and flew fifteen feet away. When he finally got up, he and his goons started calling Tyson a freak, warning him and Percy that they will be dead during PE lesson later on. Percy noticed that there were more people hanging around Sloan that day, and most of them whom he did not recognise.
After reassuring Tyson that he wasn’t a freak and stopping him from crying, they went to their next class, Science, to take an exam where they had to mix chemicals until something exploded. They aced it thanks to Tyson’s carelessness (he knocked a tray over with various chemicals on top, causing a big explosion) and soon it was PE time. They had a game of dodgeball with Sloan in charge (the teacher was reading a magazine and gave him permission out of a whim) and the teams were separated - all the class bullies and popular kids were on Sloan’s side, whereas the bullied victims and nerds were on Percy’s. When the match started, the gangsters started running for the balls in the middle of the court while most of the Percy’s team cowered in fear and tried not to look like targets. Just as he was trying to encourage his teammates, something suddenly stroke him in the stomach real hard. It was a ball thrown by the goons around Sloan whom he hadn’t seen before and unbelievably, they were growing bigger every second. They were saying his full name, Perseus Jackson, and something about how everyone in the Gym was going to be their meal soon. Monsters. They are apparently Giants called “Laistrygonians” and are cannibals (no surprise). Upon summoning several cannon balls perforated like wiffle balls with fire bubbling out the holes, they started throwing them at Percy and Tyson. Percy was able to dodge some of them, but there were just too much at once. Just when he thought he was a goner, Tyson surged forward suddenly and stopped two of them with his bare hands, sending them hurtling back toward their throwers, pulverizing them. The remaining Giants were furious. That didn’t stop Tyson, however, and he proceeded to pulverizing them either by using the cannonballs or his bare fists. Unfortunately, the leader of the monsters had his plan. Just when Tyson turned around to face him after defeating the last Giant, he smashed the cannonball right at him, sending him crashing into the wall, creating a hole. The leader grinned victoriously and prepared to throw one more at Percy. He braced himself for death, but just then a knife appeared right in the Giant’s belly. It melted into sand and ashes, and there stood Annabeth, a friend Percy made at Camp Half-Blood. She was wearing her invisibility cap and explained that she had been trailing him the whole morning, trying to look for a chance to speak to him. That explained the weird shadows he had seen earlier that day, but before they could talk more, the principal, along with most of the school staff and a few police officers, marched into the Gym. Annabeth used her cap just then, leaving Percy and Tyson to face the authorities. Sloan, who finally came around after being knocked out by Annabeth a few moments ago, claimed that Percy was the culprit behind this. Before he could be questioned, he dragged Tyson and jumped out of the hole created just now on the side of the Gym. That concludes chapter two.
I found these two chapters really interesting, and it makes me want to keep on reading until the end. The strong grammar and vocabularies, the great plot that creates a link between the previous book and the current book, the twist of the situation during the battle... all of these are reasons of why I got hooked to the book. Also, I like the way this story is written; it is narrated by Percy himself - he is telling the story. The sentences and words used are suited for modern teenagers as well, so that people of all ages can understand the plot easily and have vivid images of the story as it is being told.
The characters in this story are portrayed really well; for example, Percy, being the main character, talks about himself being a “problem” child with ADHD and dyslexia as well as a demigod - half mortal, half immortal. He says all these like it’s no big deal. We can tell that he has already been through loads of things and is used to these facts. Also, from seeing how he befriended Tyson, the “different” guy in the school, we can see that he has a strong sense of justice and helps people in need. These are all important factors for a good main character, and Percy has it all. The key to excellent books start from how the main character is like, so we can clearly see that this has a worth-to-read content.
The genre of this book is Adventure and Myth, mainly because of the many supernatural events happening around Percy and that all of these are related to Greek Mythology. The sudden change in Tyson during the battle was really intriguing as well, and that is what generated the most discussion in today’s Literature Circle. At first, he was described as a cowardly Abominable Snowman, but during the fight, he suddenly changed personality and protected Percy from the cannonballs using his massive strength. We are really eager to find out who he really is.
I would recommend this book to people of all ages because of the simple and easy-to-understand language used, and if you are looking for something adventurous and supernatural, this is for you. I guarantee that you would get hooked on it after a few chapters of reading, so grab a copy now!
