Let me guess, you loved Harry Potter, right? Of course, we all did. Now with the seven-part book series over and the eight-part film series nearing its end, you are looking for the next hot, fantastical juvenile literature craze, am I right?

Eager reader, meet Percy Jackson.

Created by author, Rick Riordan: Percy, the son of Poseidon (yes, the Greek god, Poseidon) always knew that he was different, but just how different he is only beginning to understand.

It all starts when his sixth grade math teacher turns into a leather-winged hag (more specifically, a fury) and tries to obliterate him. Later on that same day, he finds out his best buddy is half goat, a satyr. It’s all too weird.

Percy goes to a summer camp located on Long Island, NY, Camp Halfblood. There he is trained by a centaur and makes both friends and enemies of a demi-godly nature. He is even taunted by camp director, Mr. D, who is — you guessed it — none other than the infamous Dionysius. Many other gods make cameos, as both friend and foe to Percy Jackson, including Percy’s daddy, the sea god.

Oh, did I mention that all of Percy’s comings and goings take place in modern time? According to Riordan, Olympus moves to the center of Western society, which was once in ancient Greece and is now in the good ol’ US of A. Olympus, in fact, is located on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building. The underworld is located in Los Angeles (har har).

Throughout our encounters with Percy, we are introduced to modern ancient Greek mythology, we rescue two stolen items and prevent a war between the three elder gods (book 1), retrace the steps of Odysseus- complete with Scylla and the Charbyrids- to retrieve the golden fleece (book 2), witness the rise of the Titans and rescue virgin goddess Artemis from Atlas’s clutch (book 3), explore Deadalus’s labyrinth and watch the resurrection of pure evil- helplessly unable to stop it (book 4) and finally participate in an epic battle between the Titans and Olympians and witness the fulfillment of the dark prophecy pertaining to our hero (book 5). Sounds awesome, doesn’t it? Still not interested? Allow me to flesh out some of the similarities and differences between Percy Jackson and Harry Potter.

What's the Same? Kids have super powers Kids are instructed by wise elders on the joys and dangers of having said powers Kids are attacked by dark forces Kids go to a special place to learn and be protected Kids grow up through the series Strong fantastical elements Our hero is flawed Smart, snappy heroine Goofy, awkward looking best friend Prophecies, particularly one big scary prophecy that could mean the end of our hero Betrayal by people you thought were your friends Book series spawned film series (First film out in 2010) Puppy love Cool, winged pets

What's a bit different? Demi-gods, not wizards Hero is not an orphan Strong roots in Greek Mythology (you may learn something) More predictable, especially early on in the series Names of spells and cool things in ancient Greek, not Latin 5 books, not 7 Series peaks at Book 4- Labyrinth (best book), Harry’s best book, in my humble opinion was Book 3- Azkaban Most important difference = written in American English, hence less sophisticated-sounding than Rowling’s British English (you won’t learn cool new words, like snogging)

So if you are looking for some fun and fluffy books to read, why don’t you look into familiarizing yourself with Percy Jackson and his gang of modern ancient Greek halfblood heros.

Don't forget: there's no need to buy a book, when it is available at your local library.