There is nothing like a good series. Really, how often is the second book truly as good as the first? In the case of The Sea of Monsters, I was so pleased. We follow Percy Jackson and his trusty sidekicks (including one new and very… monstrous … relative) as he tries to put a stop to whatever is weakening Camp Half-Blood. I love love love how much of Greek mythology is woven into this story. I am currently also reading a retelling of The Odyssey to my seven-year-old son, and I am absolutely amazed at how much of the plot of The Odyssey Riordan has managed to include in this book without ever making it seem forced. The nine-year-olds of today will someday encounter Homer in an ancient-studies college course, and so much will seem familiar.

The writing is swift; the plot has moments of predictability, but not so much that it is bothersome (this IS an age-old story in many ways, after all), and good against evil is always a good fight to watch. I appreciated the zinger of an ending (despite the fact that my DARLING daughter had already spilled the beans, curse her!). I’m looking forward to book three.

Rated: None; there is, however, one use of “damn,” in the phrase “damn the gods!”