The Lightning Thief

 The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, 377 pages.

Percy Jackson has dyslexia, ADHD, and is generally regarded as something of a problem child in the many private schools he's been kicked out of. Turns out these things are mostly actually symptoms of the fact that his father is actually a Greek god, and that means trouble is drawn to him. After his math teacher turns into a monster and tries to kill him, the supernatural world starts imposing faster and Percy finds himself at Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for kids like him. Unfortunately, even by demigod status he's irregular, and he ends up thrown into a cross-country quest to retrieve Zeus' lightning bolt, prove himself innocent in the matter of it's theft, and stop a war between the gods. 

I was inspired to reread this middle grade classic in light of it's new TV adaptation, and I am pleased to report that it holds up well. Although I enjoyed it more when I was closer to it's target audience, it's still extremely funny. Riordan has many very original takes on Greek mythology in the modern world, and this book is a whole lot of fun. I would wholeheartedly recommend it to middle schoolers, or anyone interested in mythology and a light read.