After all the chaos of last summer, Percy finally gets a chance to be a normal middle school kid--at least, he can pretend he does. Along the way, Percy also discovers that one of normal human friends isn’t as normal as he may seem. Suddenly, while playing dodgeball, monsters appear and threaten Percy’s life. Annabeth comes to his rescue just in time, and they both make their way back to Camp Half-Blood only to find out that it is in trouble. Thalia’s tree, the one that holds the spirit of Zeus’ daughter, is ill. It’s clear that it has been poisoned, and there’s only one possible way to find the cure.
I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars. It sufficiently continued the action-packed story of Percy’s life that was introduced in the first book. While this sequel isn’t my favorite in the series, it was still extremely enjoyable to read, and it never left me bored. I liked seeing the connections of mythology that I had heard before, and it was fun to see how myths could turn into something much closer to reality. Percy travels along The Sea of Monsters, where he encounters many different people--and monsters. This book had the same style of traveling from one place to another that the first book did, and it was very entertaining. I recommend this book to anyone about 10+ years old that loves adventure.