The Lightning Thief : Dyslexic and ADHD Hero

Rick Riordan a former teacher in America has written a number of adventure books about a character called Percy Jackson who has dyslexia and ADHD. The books have become bestsellers.

The character Percy Jackson started out as a ­bed-time story for his son Haley when he was young.. At the time Haley refused to read and hated school. But he loved Greek myths, and so his father would tell him stories. In the end his son suggested he write his own stories and so as a result Rick Riordan started to write books about Percy Jackson and his adventures. (The books have some similarity to Harry Potter books …)

Percy is not a typical hero: he has never scored above a grade C in his life, and he thinks he's a failure until he finds out he is the son of the Greek god Poseidon !! Percy has ­dyslexia and attention deficit ­hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), just like Rick Riordan’s son , on whom the character was based.

At the start of his adventures, Percy discovers that his difficulties are not a weakness after all, but a sure sign of greatness: when he sees words jumbled on the page, it's because his mind is hard-wired for ancient Greek, and when the ADHD makes it hard to sit still in the classroom, it's just ­hyper-awareness that will keep him alive on the battlefield.

Rick’s son Haley said "You read a lot of books and none of them have a hero who is ­dyslexic or has ADHD – it's always perfect people in a perfect world ­doing perfect things. Percy is, in fact, very flawed and he has to fight against that and at the same time fight monsters."

Rick Riordan "Making Percy ADHD/dyslexic was my way of honouring the potential of all the kids I’ve known who have those conditions. It’s not a bad thing to be different. Sometimes, it’s the mark of being very, very talented. That’s what Percy discovers about himself in The Lightning Thief."

Recently the book The Lightning Thief has been made into a film which stars Pierce Brosnan and Uma Thurman.

The Lightning Thief is available in Turkish , plus the other books written by Rick Riordan. Its for 12 + year olds.

( Source : The Guardian )

http://www.percyjackson.co.uk
http://www.rickriordan.com/