I’ve mentioned before how uninspired I find a lot of children’s fantasy. Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is an absolute exception to this. I was hooked from the first book, the absolutely superb The Lightning Thief. Yes, there are some obvious parallels to Harry Potter, but I was too absorbed in the series to notice.

Young Percy Jackson, a regular troublemaking New York City kid with ADHD, is also a demigod. In each of his adventures he battles the characters of ancient mythology in modern day America. And today, the 4th installment in the series has arrived on the shelves! If you want a great series to start tween boys on, this is it.