The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #3)

by Rick Riordan

The Friday before winter break, my mom packed me an overnight bag and a few deadly weapons and took me to a new boarding school.

Opening line

Was Annabeth my girlfriend? (At this point, I was ready to stick the kid in a meat-flavored sack and throw him to the wolves.)

“Wow,” Thalia muttered. “Apollo is hot.”

“Sure, sis!” Then he raised his hands in a stop everything gesture. “I feel a haiku coming on.” The Hunters all groaned. Apparently they’d met Apollo before. He cleared his throat and held up one hand dramatically. “Green grass breaks through snow. Artemis pleads for my help. I am so cool.”

“Is this really the sun? I thought Helios and Selene were the sun and moon gods. How come sometimes it’s them and sometimes it’s you and Artemis?” “Downsizing,” Apollo said. “The Romans started it. They couldn’t afford all those temple sacrifices, so they laid off Helios and Selene and folded their duties into our job descriptions. My sis got the moon. I got the sun. It was pretty annoying at first, but at least I got this cool car.”

Five shall go west to the goddess in chains, One shall be lost in the land without rain, The bane of Olympus shows the trail, Campers and Hunters combined prevail, The Titan’s curse must one withstand, And one shall perish by a parent’s hand.

God alert! Blackjack yelled. It’s the wine dude! Mr. D sighed in exasperation. “The next person, or horse, who calls me the ‘wine dude’ will end up in a bottle of Merlot!”

Sometimes mortals can be more horrible than monsters.”

The apple floated and spun right above the boar’s nose, and the boar went nuts, straining to get it. “Automatic steering,” Thalia murmured. “Great.

“Love conquers all,” Aphrodite promised. “Look at Helen and Paris. Did they let anything come between them?” “Didn’t they start the Trojan War and get thousands of people killed?” “Pfft. That’s not the point. Follow your heart.”

“Good thinking,” Chuck said. “Me and Hank can blend in with the pigeons.” We all looked at him. “Kidding,” he said. “Sheesh, can’t statues have a sense of humor?”

There are parties, and then there are huge, major, blowout parties. And then there are Olympian parties. If you ever get a choice, go for the Olympian.