The Lightning Thief:
Percy Jackson & the Olympians Book One
Study Guide
This study guide is designed to help you focus on the main events and ideas in this story. I
recommend that you read each chapter first before answering the questions. If you answer the
questions as you are reading, you will find yourself reading just to answer the questions. When
this happens, the story seems segmented (not connected); you lose the sense of the "whole"
story. Also, don't be so foolish or dishonest as to read internet sources (Sparknotes, Pink
Monkey, etc.) rather than actually reading the book. Don't take shortcuts! These are not the
actions of a Holy Cross Man.
Before you start reading, don’t miss Rick Riordan’s website www.rickriordan.com! Click on
the book cover for The Lightning Thief. You’ll get to a page with links to sites with
information about the Greek gods and goddesses that will help you to understand the characters
and action in the novel. There are also some interactive and game sites.
This novel falls into the genre (type of literature) of fantasy.
Fantasy - fantasy novels and stories
cover a wide range of "real-unreal" plots, characters and settings. Some identifying characteristics are: animals
as characters, magical events, imaginary beings as characters. Fantasies often involve a search or quest of
some type and ask the reader to believe temporarily in the possibility of events and characters.
Author: Rick Riordan
Setting: Contemporary times (right now); Various locations throughout the U.S.
beginning in New York and following Percy across the country to Los Angeles
Point-of-View: 1st Person Narrative – the protagonist (main character), Percy Jackson, is telling his own
story. Everything the reader knows is through his experience.
Chapter 1 “I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher”
1. The author wants to spark your interest in his story so you’ll continue reading. How does he do that
in those first few paragraphs?
________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________
2. What kind of kids go to Yancy Academy?
_____________________________________________________________________
3. Mr. Brunner is an important character. What do you know about him so far?
_____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
4. Grover is important also. What do you know about him at this point in the story?
_________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________
5. What expectations of Percy does Mr. Brunner have?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
6. Describe what happens when Mrs. Dodds takes Percy back into the museum.
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
7. How did Mr. Brunner assist Percy in this situation?
__________________________________________________________
8. For what good reasons would Percy be confused when he returns to the others outside of the museum?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
Chapter 2 “Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death” (Go to rickriordan.com now and search
for information on The Fates. Use one of the mythology links that he provides.)
1. What is the only hint that Mrs. Dodds really had existed?
_____________________________________________________
2. How had the weather been unusual?
____________________________________________________________________________
3. What does Percy (and the reader) learn from the conversation he overheard between Grover and
Mr. Brunner?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________
4. Describe the ladies at the fruit stand and their odd actions.
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
5. Which of their actions bothers Grover the most?
______________________________________________________________
6. Foreshadowing is a literary technique that authors use to give the reader a hint of what’s to come.
What hints is the author giving you that something bad may happen to Percy?
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
Chapter 3 “Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants”
1. The story tells you enough for you to understand why Percy is not happy to be returning home when
Gabe is there. What do you know about Gabe?
______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________
2. What qualities make Percy’s mom a special person?
______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________
3. Why does Sally (Percy’s mom) always have blue food around?
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
4. Tell what Percy knows about his father.
______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________
5. What are some scary and odd events that Percy remembers from his younger years? ___________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________
6. Percy’s mother seems to know some things that he doesn’t. Why could the reader conclude this?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________
7. What is different about Grover’s legs and feet?
_________________________________________________________________
Chapter 4 “My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting”
1. What do you think the purpose of “the Mist” is?
____________________________________________________________
2. What is Grover really? ________________________________________________
3. Who or what is chasing Sally, Percy, and Grover?
____________________________________________________________
4. What happened to Sally?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
5. How does Percy finally stop the Minotaur?
___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
Chapter 5 “I Play Pinochle (pea-knuckle) with a Horse”
1. What does the blonde girl want to know from Percy?
_______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
2. What was unusual about the surfer dude watching over Percy?
___________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
3. Why is Grover expecting Percy to be angry with him?
________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
As Percy describes the lay-out of Camp Half-Blood, go to the website and view the map of
Camp Half-Blood.
4. Who runs the camp? _________________________ In what ways is this guy like Smelly Gabe?
__________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
5. Who is Mr. Brunner – really?
___________________________________________________________________________________
6. Explain in your own words why the Greek gods have taken up residence in America.
_____________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________
Chapter 6 “I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom”
1. How does the camp support itself?
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. What information about Grover does Percy get from Chiron?
________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
3. Who stays in Cabin 11, and which god is their patron?
_______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
4. According to Annabeth, why can’t the minotaur be really dead, and why might we expect to see it again
sometime?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
5. Percy gets a lot of information and insights about himself from Annabeth. Summarize what he learns.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
6. Percy encounters a girl who is very much like Nancy Bobofit. Who is this girl?
___________________________
7. When Clarisse is trying to dunk his head in the toilet, Percy uses the water against her. This is the
second time he has controlled water and used it as a weapon (the first time against Nancy at the fountain).
Which god do you think might be his father? ___________________________________________
Chapter 7 “My Dinner Goes Up in Smoke”
(At this point, look up naiads and nereids.)
1. Who is Annabeth’s mother? ______________________________________________________
2. What does Annabeth say about the gods as parents?
_________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
3. According to Annabeth, where is Mt. Olympus located now?
_________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
4. Why is the summer solstice an important deadline?
___________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
5. What do the campers do before they sit to eat their meals?
__________________________________________________
Chapter 8 “We Capture a Flag”
1. After three days at the camp, Luke teaches Percy how to sword-fight. What action of Percy’s gives him
renewed strength?
___________________________________________________________________________
2. How can Grover redeem himself and not be judged a failure as a keeper?
___________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________
3. Why doesn’t anyone live in Artemis’s cabin?
___________________________________________________________________
4. Who are the three sons of Kronos – The Big 3?
_________________________________________________________________
5. What decision did The Big 3 make after World War II?
________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
6. Who broke the oath? ______________________________________________
7. Why is Percy interested in visiting the Underworld?
________________________________________________________
8. Who is Thalia and what is her story?
___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
9. In “Capture the Flag,” which cabins were on Ares’s side?
___________________________________________________
Which ones were on Athena’s?
_____________________________________________________________________________
10. What saves Percy (again) against Clarisse’s attack?
__________________________________________________________
11. Who does the Hellhound attack? __________________________________
12. Who is Percy’s father, and how is that information revealed?
_______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
Chapter 9 “I Am Offered a Quest”
1. What are Zeus and Poseidon fighting about?
________________________________________________________________
2. Why would Zeus be angry at Percy?
_________________________________________________________________________
3. What plan does Chiron have for Percy that will stop the fighting between the two Olympians? _______
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
4. What form does the Oracle take?
____________________________________________________________________________
5. What are the four parts of Percy’s prophecy?
a.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
b.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
c.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
d.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
6. Based on what evidence does Chiron decide that Hades must have the stolen lightning bolt? ____________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
7. What evil and dangerous creatures obey Hades?
_____________________________________________________________
8. Where is the entrance to the Underworld?
___________________________________________________________________
9. Who makes up the trio for this quest?
_________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 10 “I Ruin a Perfectly Good Bus”
1. What gift does Luke Percy for his quest? ___________________________________ Why won’t Percy be
able to
use them?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________
2. What gift does Chiron give him?
______________________________________________________________________________
3. Grover explains to Percy why his mother married Gabe. What was the reason?
__________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
4. What is Percy’s personal reason for going on this quest?
______________________________________________________
5. Describe the incident – from start to finish – that interrupts their bus ride.
________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
Chapter 11 “We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium”
(Look up Medusa.)
1. What is peculiar about the garden statues that are in Aunty Em’s shop?
____________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
2. Who is Aunty Em – really? ______________________________________________
3. Percy now has two “trophies” from his battles with monsters. What are they?
_____________________________
__________________________________________________
4. What does Percy do with Medusa’s head?
____________________________________________________________
Chapter 12 “We Get Advice From a Poodle”
1. In that night’s conversation with Grover, Percy learns the purpose of being a searcher. What is it?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
2. What does Grover say is a result on earth of Pan being gone?
______________________________________________
3. What is Grover’s theory about why Percy sent the head to the gods?
______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
4. How will Gladiola help them?
___________________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 13 “I Plunge to My Death”
1. According to the news reports, what does the outside world believe is going on with Percy? ___________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
2. They took the train as far as Denver. Stop and process – where are they headed and for what reason?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
3. There is a stop-over in St. Louis (Missouri). The trio goes to the St. Louis Arch to sightsee. Explain who
and what Percy encounters.
______________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
4. How does he escape?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 14 “I Become a Known Fugitive”
1. Percy encounters a Nereid in the Mississippi River. She gives him a message from his father. What
must he do before he tries to enter the Underworld?
______________________________________________________
2. Why must Percy hide after he comes out of the water?
____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
Chapter 15 “A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers”
1. The trio is finally in Denver. In what way does Annabeth “get a call through” to Half-Blood Hill?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
2. Instead of contacting Chiron, who “answers?” _________________________ What does he have to report?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
3. What does Percy have to lie about to Luke?
___________________________________________________________________
4. The three meet Ares (god of war) in the diner. How is he dressed?
________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
5. What does he want them to do for him?
______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
6. What effect does Ares’s presence have on Percy?
___________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
7. Describe what happens when they try to get Ares’s shield.
________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
Chapter 16 “We Take a Trip to Vegas”
1. As promised, Ares arranged a ride for the trio to Los Angeles. What is the means of transportation?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
2. Ares tells Percy something important about Sally. What is it?
____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
3. As they are traveling, the story of how Thalia was turned into a pine tree is told. What was Grover’s part in
the story?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_______
What was Annabeth’s part?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
4. In Percy’s nightmare later that night, he seems to be overhearing a conversation between a voice from
a pit and someone acting as its servant. Does the voice acknowledge that Percy is there? _________________
5. Why can Percy understand the zebra but not the lion or the antelope?
__________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
6. After walking the streets of Las Vegas, they come upon the Lotus Casino. Describe what goes on there.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
7. When does Percy realize that something is not right about the place?
______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
8. How much time had they spent at the Lotus?
_____________________________________________________
Chapter 17 “We Shop For Water Beds”
(See what you can find out about Procrustus.)
1. By what means do they travel from Las Vegas to Los Angeles?
____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
2. What bothers the kids most about Percy’s latest nightmare?
_______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
3. As instructed, they report to Santa Monica beach. Why had Poseidon wanted Percy to come there first
before going to the Underworld?
__________________________________________________________________________________
4. What does Crusty try to do to them?
_________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________ How does Percy trick him and save the other two?
___________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
Chapter 18 “Annabeth Does Obedience School”
(Look up Charon and Cerberus)
1. The address for the entrance to the Underworld is DOA Recording Studios. What do you think the
DOA stands for? ___________________________________________________________
2. Describe Charon.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
3. How do they buy their way in?
________________________________________________________________________________
4. How does Annabeth control Cerberus?
_________________________________________________________________________
5. In this Underworld, what kind of dead people went to the Fields of Asphodel?
____________________________
Chapter 19 “We Find Out the Truth – Sort Of”
1. Describe what the Fields of Asphodel and its occupants were like.
____________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
2. What was it like in the Fields of Punishment?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
3. Describe Elysium and who goes there.
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
4. What seems to be drawing Grover down the tunnel and into the gaping pit?
_______________________________
__________________________________________________________________
5. What would have happened if they had eaten one of the pomegranates?
____________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________
6. The trio finally meet Hades. How is he described?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
7. What is his throne made of?___________________________________________________________
8. Where was Queen Persephone?
________________________________________________________________________________
9. Hades wants his helm (helmet) returned because he thinks that Percy has it. Percy wants Hades to
give him Zeus’s lightning bolt because he thinks Hades has it. What surprise is in Percy’s backpack
(which has been getting heavier and heavier)? __________________________________________________
10. Why doesn’t Percy save his mother with one of the pearls?
____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________
surprise is in Percy’s backpack
(which has been getting heavier and heavier)? __________________________________________________
10. Why doesn’t Percy save his mother with one of the pearls?
____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________
Chapter 20 “I Battle My Jerk Relative”
1. Whom does Ares credit with stealing both the bolt and the helm?
___________________________________
2. Ares can’t let Percy return the bolt to Zeus and stop the war. He must kill Percy. How does he try
to do that at first? _____________________________________________
3. Percy insists on what kind of fight? __________________________________
4. How does it end?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______
5. What do the policeman on the beach think is happening between these two?
___________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
6. Who came to pick up Hades’s helm of darkness?
_______________________________________________________
7. What or who had stopped Ares from killing Percy?
_______________________________________________________
Chapter 21 “I Settle My Tab”
1. What story does the non-god world believe about Percy and his traveling companions? __________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
2. When the kids are interviewed, what does Percy announce to the media that will certainly
make Gabe furious?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_
3. While Percy goes to the Empire State Building, where will Annabeth and Grover be going? ___________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
4. On which floor of the Empire State Building do the gods live?
________________________________________
5. How is Poseidon dressed appropriately as the god of the Sea?
_______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
6. Are Zeus and Poseidon willing to consider that Kronos is healing and coming back?
____________________
7. When Percy returns to his apartment to see his mom, a box is waiting on his bed. Read the address on
the box. What’s in the box? ________________________________ Percy offers to use it to get rid of Gabe.
How
would a look into the box get rid of
Gabe?________________________________________________________________________
8. What is his mother’s reason for not letting him use it to deal with Gabe?
__________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
Chapter 22 “The Prophecy Comes True”
1. Describe the reception Percy received when he returned to Half-Blood Hill. __________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
2. Why won’t Gabe be a problem for his mother anymore?
___________________________________________________
3. What big decision does Percy have to make by the end of the summer?
___________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
4. Explain how Luke fulfills the part of Percy’s prophecy that says he will be “betrayed by one who calls
you a friend?”
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
5. Luke expresses how he really feels about the Olympians. What will he be fighting for when he goes
out into the world?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
6. Percy influenced Annabeth to make a decision about the school year. Where will she be during this
time? _____________________________________________________________________________
7. Where will Percy be spending the school year? ________________________________________________
8. What promise do they make for the next summer?
__________________________________________________________