My name is Percy Jackson. I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. Am I a troubled kid? Yeah. You could say that.

There," Zoë suggested."By the Embarcadero Building." "Good thinking," Chuck said. "Me and Hank can blend in with the pigeons." We all looked at him. "Kidding," he said. "Sheesh, can't a statues have a sense of humor?

I was wishing I'd bought some of that Camp Half Blood orange thermal underwear..." ?!?!

Happy the Dragon was not so happy.

Tell me when it's over " Thalia said. Her eyes were shut tight. The statue was holding on to us so we couldn't fall but still Thalia clutched his arm like it was the most important thing in the world. "Everything's fine " I promised. "Are... are we very high " I looked down. Below us a range of snowy mountains zipped by. I stretched out my foot and kicked snow off one of the peaks. "Nah " I said. "Not that high.

Waitress!" Hedge called. "Six double espressos, and whatever these guys want. Put it on the girl's tab.

Humans don't exist on the same level as immortals. They can't even be hurt by our weapons. But you,Percy - you are part god,part human.You live in both worlds.You can be harmed by both,and you can affect both. That's what makes heroes so special.