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This story puts together the stories of diverse individuals who come together to transform an abandoned lot in a rundown neighborhood into a thriving community garden. Each chapter is narrated by a different character, with a unique perspective on the garden's creation and its impact on their lives.

Literary Elements:

Symbolism: The garden serves as a powerful symbol of renewal, growth, and being connected.

Characterization: The characters in Seedfolks are complex, each with their own struggles, hopes, and dreams.

Themes: The novel explores themes of community & diversity.

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The story follows a sequence of events triggered by the simple act of giving a mouse a brownie. As the mouse enjoys the brownie, he begins to make requests and embark on various activities.

Literary Elements:

Plot: The plot follows a circular structure, where each action leads to another, ultimately returning to the original starting point.

Repetition: The repetition of phrases and actions throughout the story reinforces the circular nature of the plot and helps young readers anticipate what will happen next.

Illustrations: The illustrations complement the text, providing visual cues and enhancing the storytelling experience.

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This book is a book that gives information about space and the planets that surround us. Helps the reader understand using visual references of what they have captured from space. It also has a couple of references to websites where kids can search for other visual references like close up pictures as well as interviews with former astronauts.

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In Hello Earth, the book is meant to talk about the earth and why it's important to care for it. It has references to personification, as well as imagery to let the mind wonder on what would happen if the earth was not here. The book also contains illustrations of what we find on earth and things we can do to help save it.

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This story starts off with Caroline as she's very adventurous and has a curious mind. She finds a parallel world behind a locked door at her new home. This world is eerie, but her mom seems to be this sweet caring mother but in all actuality she's a sinister woman with Mal intentions.

Literary Elements:

Takes place in the new world and her new home (setting)

She finds her identity when going into the new world as she realized that she needed to realize that reality is just reality, and this universe was not. (theme)

You do get some imagery of what it was like in the other world as she described the place and her mother and father.

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This young girl known as Minli grows up in China, where her dad tells her the story of the jade dragon. The mountain never became fruitful due to the number of obstacles. Her father tells her about the old man on the moon that can grant wishes where she goes on the adventure of meeting talking animals and such. The mountain then began to flourish after her adventure, and it gave them the chance to regrow.

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This book is set in the American Midwest in the late 19th century. The story revolves around a widowed farmer named Jacob who advertises for a wife. Sarah, a woman from Maine, responds to the ad. She visits Jacob's farm to see if she can make it her new home, leaving behind her coastal life. As the story unfolds, Sarah forms bonds with Jacob's children, Anna and Caleb, and they with her. Some literary elements I found was the theme being based off family, love, and loss. Character development of each character undergoes growth and transformation throughout the story as well.

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In this poetry book, Shel Silverstein gives a great example of poems being entertaining as well as using poetic devices that help the reader create images in their head of what he is describing. Shel Silverstein hooks all ages by his humor using funny thoughts and ideas in his poetry. Things I would say are used in his poetry book are alliteration, hyperbole, personification, and rhyme scheme.

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Read 552 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. As a child in a small rural village in Sierra Leone, Mariatu Kamara lived peacefully surro...

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In the Spice Islands, where clove and nutmeg trees grow,
a girl named Damura lived long ago.
Damura is a beautiful girl, as kind and lovely as the little green parrot that perches on the nutmeg tree. But Damura's stepmother and stepsister mistreat her. They force her to rise before dawn, carry out all the chores, and sleep on the floor. One day, while down by the river, Damura calls out to the creatures of the wild for help. Rising from the waters, an ancient crocodile answers the call. This unusual fairy godmother, aptly named Grandmother Crocodile, outfits Damura in a sarong of gold, with slippers to match, and sends her to the palace to dance for the prince. Once he sees her, the prince knows that she will be his bride.
But the fairy tale isn't quite over. Damura's wicked stepmother and stepsister are so jealous that they push Damura into the river, where she is swallowed by a crocodile. Too bad they didn't know about Grandmother Crocodile....
The Gift of the Crocodile, a tale from the Spice Islands in Indonesia, offers a colorful and dramatic twist on the universally adored Cinderella story.

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The Gift of the Crocodile by Judy Sierra - In the Spice Islands, where clove and nutmeg trees grow, a girl named Damura lived long ago. Damura is a beautif...

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golden tales from the arabian nights [Soifer, Margaret and Shapiro, Irwin, Gustaf Teneggren] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. golden tales from the arabian nights

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The story follows girl named Kiku that lives with her mother, and travels to her mother's hometown. She becomes displaced in which she time travels to her grandmother's time during WW2. This was so she could see the way that Japanese families were treated and suffered due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. l

Literary elements:

Kiku finds her own identity and sense of belonging, her interactions with her grandmother provide opportunities for growth and self-discovery.

Kiku sees the painful legacy of her family's past.

The use of visuals (Graphic Novel)

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Book Details

A teenager is pulled back in time to witness her grandmother's experiences in World War II-era Japanese internment camps in Displacement, a historical graphic novel from Kiku Hughes.

Kiku is on vacation in San Francisco when suddenly she finds herself displaced to the 1940s Japanese-American internment camp that her late grandmother, Ernestina, was forcibly relocated to during World War II.

These displacements keep occurring until Kiku finds herself "stuck" back in time. Living alongside her young grandmother and other Japanese-American citizens in internment camps, Kiku gets the education she never received in history class. She witnesses the lives of Japanese-Americans who were denied their civil liberties and suffered greatly, but managed to cultivate community and commit acts of resistance in order to survive.

Kiku Hughes weaves a riveting, bittersweet tale that highlights the intergenerational impact and power of memory.

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A teenager is pulled back in time to witness her grandmother's experiences in World War II-era Japanese internment camps in Displacement, a historical graphic novel from Kiku Hughes. Kiku is on vacation in San Francisco when suddenly she finds herself displaced to the 1940s Japanese-American internment camp that her late grandmother, Ernestina, was forcibly relocated to during World War II.

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This story takes place in Denmark with the main character known as Annemarie Johansen. Her and her family help their friends escape Denmark, as this takes place during the Holocaust and them being Jewish are put in danger.

Literary Elements:

Takes Place in Denmark (setting)

Theme of courage is shown as Annemarie is putting herself in danger by helping the Rosens escape.

Symbolism of the star from the title as it symbolized those that were Jewish in which were in danger during this period.

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Lois Lowry is known for her versatility and invention as a writer. She was born in Hawaii and grew up in New York, Pennsylvania, and Japan. After studying at Brown University, she married, started a family, and turned her attention to writing. She is the author of more than forty books for young adults, including the popular Anastasia Krupnik series. She has received countless honors, among them the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the California Young Reader's Medal, and the Mark Twain Award. She received Newbery Medals for two of her novels, NUMBER THE STARS and THE GIVER. Her first novel, A SUMMER TO DIE, was awarded the International Reading Association's Children's Book Award. Several books have been adapted to film and stage, and THE GIVER has become an opera. Her newest book, ON THE HORIZON, is a collection of memories and images from Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, and post-war Japan. A mother and grandmother, Ms. Lowry divides her time between Maine and Florida. To learn more about Lois Lowry, see her website at www.loislowry.com

author interview

A CONVERSATION WITH LOIS LOWRY ABOUT THE GIVER

Q. When did you know you wanted to become a writer?

A. I cannot remember ever not wanting to be a writer.

Q. What inspired you to write The Giver?

A. Kids always ask what inspired me to write a particular book or how did I get an idea for a particular book, and often it's very easy to answer that because books like the Anastasia books come from a specific thing; some little event triggers an idea. And some, like Number the Stars, rely on real history. But a book like The Giver is a much more complicated book, and therefore it comes from much more complicated places-and many of them are probably things that I don't even recognize myself anymore, if I ever did. So it's not an easy question to answer.

I will say that the whole concept of memory is one that interests me a great deal. I'm not sure why that is, but I've always been fascinated by the thought of what memory is and what it does and how it works and what we learn from it. And so I think probably that interest of my own and that particular subject was the origin, one of many, of The Giver.

Q. How did you decide what Jonas should take on his journey?

A. Why does Jonas take what he does on his journey? He doesn't have much time when he sets out. He originally plans to make the trip farther along in time, and he plans to prepare for it better. But then, because of circumstances, he has to set out in a very hasty fashion. So what he chooses is out of necessity. He takes food because he needs to survive. He takes the bicycle because he needs to hurry and the bike is faster than legs. And he takes the baby because he is going out to create a future. Babies-and children-always represent the future. Jonas takes the baby, Gabriel, because he loves him and wants to save him, but he takes the baby also in order to begin again with a new life.

Q. When you wrote the ending, were you afraid some readers would want more details or did you want to leave the ending open to individual interpretation?

A. Many kids want a more specific ending to The Giver. Some write, or ask me when they see me, to spell it out exactly. And I don't do that. And the reason is because The Giver is many things to many different people. People bring to it their own complicated beliefs and hopes and dreams and fears and all of that. So I don't want to put my own feelings into it, my own beliefs, and ruin that for people who create their own endings in their minds.

Q. Is it an optimistic ending? Does Jonas survive?

A. I will say that I find it an optimistic ending. How could it not be an optimistic ending, a happy ending, when that house is there with its lights on and music is playing? So I'm always kind of surprised and disappointed when some people tell me that they think the boy and the baby just die. I don't think they die. What form their new life takes is something I like people to figure out for themselves. And each person will give it a different ending. I think they're out there somewhere and I think that their life has changed and their life is happy, and I would like to think that's true for the people they left behind as well.

Q. In what way is your book Gathering Blue a companion to The Giver?

A. Gathering Blue postulates a world of the future, as The Giver does. I simply created a different kind of world, one that had regressed instead of leaping forward technologically as the world of The Giver has. It was fascinating to explore the savagery of such a world. I began to feel that maybe it coexisted with Jonas's world . . . and that therefore Jonas could be a part of it in a tangential way. So there is a reference to a boy with light eyes at the end of Gathering Blue. Originally I thought he could be either Jonas or not, as the reader chose. But since then I have published two more books-Messenger, and Son-which complete The Giver Quartet and make clear that the light-eyed boy is, indeed. Jonas. In the book Son readers will find out what became of all their favorite characters: Jonas, Gabe, and Kira as well, from Gathering Blue. And there are some new characters-most especially Claire, who is fourteen at the beginning of Son- whom I hope they will grow to love.

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Number the Stars: A Newbery Award Winner

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Number the Stars: A Newbery Award Winner [Lowry, Lois] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Number the Stars: A Newbery Award Winner

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Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote

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Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote

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This story gives context on the life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the women's suffrage movement. The illustrations demonstrate the great things she had done for women and how we have created equal plates for women as at the time was frown upon. Social Justice being an important aspect as to what Elizabeth saw for women and how they needed to be treated equally and seen equally as men. The women's suffrage movement being the biggest thing she did to create equal rights.

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elizabeth leads the way: elizabeth cady stanton and the right to vote

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history & the past: general interest (children's / teenage)

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history & the past: general interest (children's/ya)

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juvenile nonfiction / biography & autobiography / historical

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juvenile nonfiction / biography & autobiography / women

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juvenile nonfiction / history / united states / 19th century

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juvenile nonfiction/biography & autobiography - historical

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juvenile nonfiction/history - united states - 19th century

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best childrens book of the year; picture book biographies; strong women; role models for girls; feminists for children; american history for children; votes for women; womens history month; gifts for elementary school students; present for girls who like history; history loving boys; junior library guild selection; common core connections; to read in history class; for 6 7 8 9 10 year olds; 1st 2nd 3rd 4th grade; first second third fourth graders; reading guide; with questions for class discussion; classroom use; student project ideas; upbeat; inspiring; optimistic

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juvenile nonfiction / biography & autobiography / historical

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juvenile nonfiction / biography & autobiography / women

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juvenile nonfiction / history / united states / 19th century

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juvenile nonfiction/biography & autobiography - historical

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juvenile nonfiction/history - united states - 19th century

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history & the past: general interest (children's / teenage)

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history & the past: general interest (children's/ya)

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Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote

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Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote [Stone, Tanya Lee, Gibbon, Rebecca] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote

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This is wordless picture book letting readers create their own plot of what might happen. The images narrate the story and also gives context on the emotions that can come from characters. Starts off with kids seeing a toy dinosaur with a bag of chalk in its mouth and the kids start playing with it drawing all things that come to mind. What they don't know is that all the things they draw come to life in which, one of the kids draw a dino and realize they are in danger. They have to come up with a plan to make the dino disappear.

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A rainy day. Three kids in a park. A dinosaur spring rider. A bag of chalk. The kids begin to draw. . . and then . . . magic! The children draw the sun, butterflies, and a dinosaur that amazingly come to life. Children will never feel the same about the playground after they experience this astounding wordless picture book and the power of the imagination. Bill Thomson embraced traditional painting techniques and meticulously painted each illustration by hand, using acrylic paint and colored pencils.

https://www.amazon.com/Chalk-Bill-Thomson/dp/0761455264

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A rainy day. Three kids in a park. A dinosaur spring rider. A bag of chalk. The kids begin to draw. . . and then . . . magic! The children draw the sun, butterflies, and a dinosaur that amazingly come to life.

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Stanley Yelnats is sent to a juvenile detention center in the middle of the desert, known as Camp Green Lake. He learns about his family's history and how they are cursed.

Literary Elements:

The boys are forced to dig up holes as a form of punishment, Stanley finds out the true reason why they dig up the holes as they are looking for treasure. (Plot)

We gain insight of the characters development as they progress overtime from being in the camp and realized the things, they did in the past were not justified actions.

There's a lot of flashbacks as we go from Stanleys life in the past to his life at camp green lake as well as the other characters.

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Read 26.4k reviews from the world’s largest community for readers. Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-s…

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Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day: Special Limited Edition

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Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day: Special Limited Edition

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Alexander goes through a day where everything just goes wrong, things just keep getting worse and worse for him.

Literary Elements:

Alexanders character development comes from when he has to realize that even if his day is going bad, he can't let that affect him.

Resilience showed through when he got over his hurdle of being a certain way, letting his thoughts not get the best of him.

There's humor in the book as the mishaps are what make it funny like the gum in his hair and animals being found in his backyard.

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Judith Viorst (Author), Ray Cruz (Illustrator)

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Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

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Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day [Viorst, Judith, Cruz, Ray] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

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This girl gets sick from meningitis which leads her to losing her hearing. This is when she moves to a new school, and she feels accepted and her disability she finds to be unique. Finds out that her differences are like her superpower and causes her to feel like a superhero with her hearing aids. Some people don’t understand that her disability affects her and then leads her to meeting within her new friendship. The perspective is based off the authors thoughts and emotions and allowed the reader to understand the perspective since it is based off of her.

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Cece Bell's #1 New York Times Bestseller graphic novel El Deafo is the origin story of a student with hearing loss and a hearing aid becoming a superhero. A John Newbery Medal Winner Now an Apple+ Animated TV Series! El Deafo is a book that will entertain children, give hearing-impaired children a hero of their own, and challenge others to consider an experience unlike their own. Like other great works for children, it provides the opportunity for young readers to consider how they would act or react in a similar situation, helping to build empathy and understanding through the power of story.El Deafo: Superpowered Edition! Get a special hardcover collector's edition of Cece Bell's beloved graphic novel with 40 bonus pages of childhood photographs, early sketches, notes from Cece, and much more!

Starting at a new school is scary, especially with a giant hearing aid strapped to your chest! At her old school, everyone in Cece's class was deaf. Here, she's different. She's sure the kids are staring at the Phonic Ear, the powerful aid that will help her hear her teacher. Too bad it also seems certain to repel potential friends.

Then Cece makes a startling discovery. With the Phonic Ear, she can hear her teacher not just in the classroom, but anywhere her teacher is in the school-in the hallway . . . in the teacher's lounge . . . in the bathroom! This is power. Maybe even superpower! Cece is on her way to becoming El Deafo, Listener for All.

Also Available:

But the funny thing about being a superhero is that it's just another way of feeling different . . . and lonely. Can Cece channel her powers into finding the thing she wants most: a true friend?

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El Deafo [Bell, Cece] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. El Deafo

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John and his friends were sailing out in the sea and were left stranded on an island due to a bad storm. They were rescued by barbarians and were taken to America, and he lives his life while facing racism. John goes back to the sea and heads to California during the gold rush period. John heads back to Japan and gets arrested because they thought he was a spy and well ended him in jail for a couple years. The theme I found was that of determination as he was determined to find his parents and was wanting to see them. He could've given up when he got to the states but instead worked hard to go back.

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I'll admit it. I'm a map junkie. I can't get anywhere without GPS. Even before that technology, I was the road trip companion with a stash of fold out paper maps, ready to highlight the best roads for our journey. Maybe that's why I'm a plot junkie. I need to know where my characters are going before I hit the keyboard.

However, I get tangled up in the small details (otherwise known as ) in making my character's journey believable. Turns out, there's a roadmap for line-by-line structure in a novel that can help. It's call Stimulus and Response, a term used by Jack M. Bickham in his instructional book,

Stimulus and Response Defined

Bickham describes Stimulus and Response (S/R) as a transaction. It is a chain reaction of Cause and Effect: one event evokes a response, which provokes another event, followed by another response.

Stimulus is anything the POV character witnesses in action or dialogue. For every Stimulus, the POV should offer an immediate Response , whether internal, external, or both. Bickham provides examples, such as "this punch making the other duck" or "this question making the other person reply."

Bickham breaks down into a logical pattern. The first part of is Internalization (feelings/thoughts), followed by Action (physical/dialogue/both.)
Internalization (feelings/thoughts) Action (physical/dialogue/both)
is an integral part of microcosmic structure in fiction. Otherwise, a novel is merely a string of events, and without the characters , the reader is left to interpret what all the events mean without an emotional roadmap. can be simple or complex, and a well-crafted Response builds character empathy and ensures believability in the plot.

Stimulus and Response sounds great, but I wanted to see it in action and determine whether it's effective. I've been reading Heart of a Samuri by Margi Preus, a 2011 Newbery Honor, and it provides a perfect scene for analysis.

Stimulus and Response in Action

Heart of a Samuri is a fictionalized account of a 19 th century Japanese boy named Manjiro Nakahama, who was stranded with his fishing crew on a deserted island and rescued by an American whaling ship.

Skipping ahead to Chapter 3 (after backstory, setting, and some time jumps, which involve more complicated ), I used the highlight function on my iPad to isolate Manjiro's , and voilà, the entire chapter is a string of Stimulus and Response.

In his unique voice, Manjiro describes the strangers that rescue him, starting with their foreign shoes. That's the . Manjiro's subsequent e:
"Manjiro shuddered. These were certainly barbarians if they killed animals to make shoes! Such a thing was against the law in Japan."
We have the reflexive action of shuddering , which implies the FEELING of fear or apprehension or disgust, followed by Manjiro's THOUGHT process (but no Action in this example.) From the information provided in the first two chapters, I already know that Manjiro is afraid of the unknown barbarians, so I expect this emotional response. The addition of Thought adds voice to his character/background. I continue to believe in the story, and I'm interested in reading more.

Manjiro describes their strange faces. His : "No matter how odd-looking or dangerous they were, Manjiro had to choke down his fear and ask them to help his friends.
'My friends are still on the island,' Manjiro said."
Manjiro's includes Feeling, Thought and Action (in the form of dialogue). I know his crew is starving, so his emotional reaction makes sense.

Next, Manjiro's crew is taken to the whaling vessel. Manjiro is impressed by the sails, and his dialogue serves as the : "'Look at all those sails!' Manjiro said. [ :] 'They are like huge wings!' In a ship like that, he thought, you could go so far and so fast, you could sail clear off the edge of the earth. The thought filled him with both fear and exhilaration."

I like this complicated example. The first line of dialogue doubles as Stimulus and Feeling. Manjiro's Thought and subsequent Feeling foreshadow how far he will travel on this ship.

Then Manjiro and his crew are instructed to sit on benches, which are too high for their shorter stature. The older fishermen predict that the torture and humiliation is just beginning. Manjiro's : "'Maybe they won't humiliate us,' Manjiro said hopefully.

This line of dialogue and one adverb set up the final transaction at the end of the scene. Manjiro and his crew are offered food, but the older fishermen caution it might be poisoned. : "Manjiro didn't care if the rice were poisoned. He gobbled it up gratefully. And the soft, steaming sweet potato. And the warm broth. And the half cup of cool, fresh water. [Next :] And finally, a strange kind of food was placed in his hands.

[ :] Manjiro bit off a piece. It filled his mouth and made hard work for this teeth.
'Bread,' the sailor called it."
My verdict: This scene in Heart of a Samuri demonstrates a successful use of Bickham's Stimulus and Response transactions. The action/plot flows in a logical manner, and I believe in Manjiro's responses. I empathize with him, which means I will keep reading to find out what happens next.

In first drafts of my own manuscripts, writing a full to each will ensure that I understand how my characters are feeling at every turn. Each serves as a road sign to keep my characters on course and keep me from getting tangled up in the words. If I can finesse in subsequent drafts, I'm elevating my craft while propelling my characters along their journey.
Action: Analyze a scene from your work-in-progress using Stimulus/Response. Fill in what's missing. Make sure your main character has a Feeling, Thought, Action response to every Stimulus.
LA Biscay writes children's books and dances everyday, if only down the hall. As a teacher of Creative Movement, she enjoys assembling basic dance elements into unique combinations. It's probably why she's a fan of story structure! LA is an active member of SCBWI. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, children, super dog, and a brood of chickens that lay green eggs. Yep. Green eggs.

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Stimulus and Response in Heart of the Samurai by Margi Preus * Blog

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Craft Review by LA Biscay I'll admit it. I'm a map junkie. I can't get anywhere without GPS. Even before that technology, I was the road trip companion with a stash of fold out paper maps, ready to highlight the best roads for our journey. Maybe that's why I'm a plot junkie.

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Percy Jackson is known as an outcast in the book, he gets attacked by this beast in which his teacher finds out that he's not a normal kid. He goes off to this camp for these kids that aren't normal and finds out he's in danger. Realizes that he stole the lightning bolt that the gods were missing. He makes his way on this adventure with his friends Grover and Kim both come from the other gods in which makes it even more interesting. Overall, the theme would be that he found his identity on this adventure leading him to become confident in the rest of the story.

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Rick Riordan | Welcome to the Online World of Rick Riordan

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Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Book 1

Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is on the most dangerous quest of his life. With the help of a satyr and a daughter of Athena, Percy must journey across the United States to catch a thief who has stolen the original weapon of mass destruction - Zeus' master bolt. Along the way, he must face a host of mythological enemies determined to stop him. Most of all, he must come to terms with a father he has never known, and an Oracle that has warned him of betrayal by a friend.

Disney Hyperion 0-7868-5629-7 Ages 10+

The sea does not like to be restrained. - Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief, Chapter One

Hear the first part of the first Percy Jackson book, as read by the author (MP3).

Notable Awards

A New York Times Bestseller

Selected for Al Roker's Book Club for Kids, The Today Show

A Best Book of 2005, School Library Journal

A New York Times Notable Book of 2005

A Best Book of 2005, Child Magazine

Bluebonnet Award Nominee, 2006, Texas Library Association

Askews Torchlight Award (UK) Winner, 2006

Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book List, 2005

VOYA Top Shelf Fiction List for 2005

ALA Notable Book for 2005
More Awards

YALSA Best Book for Young Adults 2005

Red House Children's Book Award Winner (UK), 2006

CCBC choice award 2006, Cooperative Children's Book Center

A 2006 Notable Children's Book, National Council for Teachers of English

A Publishers Weekly National Children's Bestseller

Warwickshire Book Award Winner (UK), 2007

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Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is on the most dangerous quest of his life. With the help of a satyr and a daughter of Athena, Percy must journey across the United States to catch a thief who has stolen the original weapon of mass destruction - Zeus' master bolt.