Akhlys lunged at Percy, and for a split second he thought: Well, hey, I’m just smoke. She can’t touch me, right? He imagined the Fates up in Olympus, laughing at his wishful thinking: LOL, NOOB!

Right,” I said. “So the baboon, the crocodile…any other pets I should know about?” Amos thought for a moment. “Visible ones? No, I think that’s it.

When he pulled away, he smiled kindly at me. I felt so good, I'll admit I teared up a little. I guess until that moment I hadn't allowed myself to realize just how terrified I had been the last few days. "Dad-" "Shhh," he said. "No hero is above fear, Percy. And you have risen above every hero. Not even Hercules-

I think kids want the same thing from a book that adults want - a fast-paced story, characters worth caring about, humor, surprises, and mystery. A good book always keeps you asking questions, and makes you keep turning pages so you can find out the answers.

Nobody welcomes a war - not if they're smart. But war finds everyone sooner or later. It's inevitable.

Scrawny? Baby, I invented scrawny. Scrawny is the new sizzling hot.

Survive first. Figure out crayon drawing of destiny later.