The #1 New York Times bestselling Percy Jackson series-including The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan's Curse, and The Battle of the Labyrinth-features a twelve-year-old dyslexic boy who discovers he is the son of a Greek god, the target of mythical Greek monsters and the center of a prophecy that could change the balance of power in the world forever. In Demigods and Monsters, YA authors take on Greek gods, monsters and prophecy, to add insight and even more fun to Riordan's page-turner series. Its fresh, funny essays include:

• The pros and cons of having a god as a parent
• Why Dionysus might actually be the best director Camp Half-Blood could have
• What it takes to be one of Artemis's Hunters
• How to tell a monster when you see one
• Why even if we aren't facing manticores and minotaurs, reading myths can still help us deal with the scary things in our own lives
• Why so many monsters go into retail-and why they're never selling anything a demigod really wants

The book also includes an introduction by Percy Jackson series author Rick Riordan, that gives further insight into the series and its creation, and a glossary of ancient Greek myth, with plenty of information on the places, monsters, gods and heroes that appear in the series.

This was a truly intelligent set of essays. My favorite one was Ellen Steiber's "Dionysus: Who Let Him Run a Summer Camp", though I also thoroughly enjoyed 'As Bad As They Wanna Be' by Hilary Wagner, since I have a serious soft spot for Nico di Angelo, especially being caught up with the Heroes of Olympus books. Sally Jackson definitely gets the A+ parenting award. The glossary is also very helpful as a companion to Riordan's books. Also - I would absolutely love to see Percy and the gang in Central America. Take note, Rick!

Overall, this was entirely enjoyable and well thought out set of essays, and if they were updated to included essays about information with Heroes of Olympus, I'd be totally willing to buy both.