With great power... comes great need to take a nap. Wake me up later.

Young people don't always do what they're told, but if they can pull it off and do something wonderful, sometimes they escape punishment.

Sometimes you have to lose a piece to win a game.

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.

And I was holding someone who was destined to be my best friend, or possibly my worst enemy.

Why does it have to be so hard? Why can't it be a happily-ever-after ride-into-the-sunset feeling all the time?

Meat!" he said scornfully. "I'm a vegetarian." You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," I reminded him. Those are vegetables.