He sets very high expectations for Percy, saying, "I expect only the best from you, Percy Jackson" (1.66). Brunner is a really good teacher (Latin and Ancient Greek culture) and thinks that Percy is the bee's knees. All the words in his textbooks go "swimming off the page, circling head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards" (2.18). Studying for final exams is a complete nightmare for him. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things. I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. He describes what it's like not being able to focus well in the classroom: This makes learning in a mortal classroom a billion times harder for him. He's disgruntled.Īs if life weren't rough enough, Percy is dyslexic and has attention deficit disorder. This bit of advice tells us that Percy distrusts adults, but that he also feels that staying ignorant of certain truth is way better than pursuing this truth. He talks about the lies parents tell their children and counsels us to believe these lies:īelieve whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life. See? When he begins telling us his story, he's a bit on the grumpy side, giving us the sense that he is angry at someone or something. I could start at any point in my short and miserable life to prove it. As a result, Percy's life perspective can be a bit negative at times: They live in an apartment in Queens, NY, and Gabe likes to make Percy's life and Percy's mom's life a living hell. His mother (who we'll talk about in a minute) eventually married a seriously heinous dude name Gabe Ugliano, or Smelly Gabe. Percy comes from a very humble background, allowing him to be grateful for simple pleasures in life. Our idea of a splurge was eating out at Burger King and renting a video. I couldn't remember the last time I had so much fun. Later on, when presented with a free stay at a Vegas casino, Percy says, While his classmates talk about what fun adventures they have lined up for the summer break (like travelling to Switzerland, taking a cruise to the Caribbean, etc.), Percy doesn't tell them that he will spend his summer working various jobs and figuring out where he will be able to go to school in the fall. Most of his classmates come from families that do not need to scramble for money like Percy's family does. During his sixth-grade year, Percy attends Yancy Academy, a nice boarding school for students with learning disabilities. The fact that he has attended six schools over the past six years tells us that he must be really good at adapting to new places, but that he probably doesn't have many friends. He describes himself as "a troubled kid" (1.9). Percy is used to being the outsider, the loner, and the dummy. He gets in trouble for trying to pay attention. I was trying to listen to what had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Take, for example, his school trip to the New York museum: He's a trouble magnet, no matter how hard he tries to keep cool and make himself invisible. You see, trouble seems to find him wherever he goes. That's right – Percy has knack for getting kicked out of school. What the heck does "normal" mean anyway? Well, it probably doesn't refer to somebody who has attended six different schools in six years. Percy has never been "normal" in his life. Chapter titles like "A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers," and "We Get Advice from a Poodle" really help paint a clear portrait of this twelve-year-old boy and his demi-god sense of humor. To get a taste of his personality and his sense of humor, just glance at this book's table of contents. He is our narrator and the hero of The Lightning Thief. Percy Jackson is perhaps the best chapter-titler known to man.
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