The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

In the second Percy Jackson book, the whole gang is back. Annabeth and Percy are reunited as she rescues him from a gang of monsters at his new school. She was on her way to let him know that Camp Half-Blood is in need of their help. Someone has poisoned the magical borders that keep the campers safe, and if they can't find a cure, it may be the end of the safe haven for half-bloods. Not to mention that Chiron has been exiled from camp, and replaced with a sadistic grouch who delights in Percy's misfortune, Kronos is still up to his old tricks, and Clarisse still has it in for him.

They bring along Tyson, a friend from Percy's latest school. It seems that he is more than he appears. Annabeth immediately notices that he is a cyclops. To add more complications, at night, Percy is having dreams of Grover. He seems to be trapped, and wearing a wedding dress.

Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson somehow end up on a quest to search for the one thing that might restore order to Camp Half-Blood, and save Grover. They will have to discover something that was lost for a reason. The Sea of Monsters, the legendary journey taken by Odysseus, holds the Sirens, Scylla's cliffs, C.C.'s Resort and Spa, and the sheep of doom.

Riordan does a masterful job of blending modern action-fantasy with ancient Greek mythology into a seamless story I can't wait to continue reading. Percy is learning valuable life lessons all over the place, and he starts to realize how complicated life can be.

"When you think 'monster island,' you think craggy rocks and bones scattered on the beach like the island of the Sirens. The Cyclops's island was nothing like that. I mean, okay, it had a rope bridge across a chasm, which was not a good sign. You might as well put up a billboard that said, SOMETHING EVIL LIVES HERE," (Riordan pg. 202, 2006).

*Library Link*

If you liked this, check out:
The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson, Book 3)
Magyk by Angie Sage (Septimus Heap, Book 1)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter, Book 3)


Riordan, Rick. (2006). the Sea of Monsters. Miramax Books-Hyperion Books for Children: New York, NY.