The Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero- Rick Riordan

Riordan, R. (2010). The lost hero. California: Disney-Hyperion.
Summary
New demi-gods at Camp Half-Blood, Jason, Piper, and Leo are just coming to understand their knew powers and abilities. Just as in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, there is a great back story and present upheaval of the Gods. Realizing that their parents are in their Roman personae rather than Greek throws them for a loop as they must rescue Hera, Queen of the Gods, or Porphyrion, who is a giant king created to destroy Zeus, will rise and kill all those who stand in his way.
The three take their adventure throughout the United States as they battle monsters and evil Gods, and grow and deal with their own inner battles of tween angst. Oh yeah, Percy Jackson is also missing and it is up to the three to find the lost hero.
Review
This is a great twist on the popular Percy Jackson books. Fans will love the fact that they stay true to the original story and characters, and readers still get brief glimpses of familiar characters Percy, Annabeth and Grover. I love the twist of Roman vs. Greek gods since this is always a confusing thing for some kids to understand and that the adventures took place in familiar places. Readers are thrown head first into new battles, new relationships, and new challenges and Riordan has done it again with giving readers a new series to fall in love with.
Genre
Fantasy Fiction
Reading Level/Interest Level
9-12 years old/Tweens
Similar Books
Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan
The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan
The Cronus Chronicles by Anne Ursu
Characters
Jason Grace: Jason, age 15, is a son of Jupiter (the Roman form of Zeus). Jason is the younger brother of Thalia Grace, who is the daughter of Zeus (the Greek form of Jupiter).  He was raised in a different camp who believe in the Roman aspect of the gods. Jason arrives at camp with no memory of his past, his family or his friends. Jason finds out that Hera has erased his memory in order to exchange the best heroes of both camps (the other hero being Percy Jackson) and make them fight together against the Giant's invasion of Olympus.
Leo Valdez- Leo is age 15, and is a son of Hephaestus. Leo is able to conjur and withstand fire, a rare ability gifted by Hephaestus that his siblings suggest may herald catastrophe. He is tormented by the death of his mother and believes his fire conjuring power caused her death. He had a nanny called Tia Callida (who was actually Hera in disguise) who would place him in danger and retell him that his future would determine the outcome of Olympus.
Piper McLean- Age 15, A daughter of Aphrodite. She has the ability to "charmspeak", or talk anything, or anyone, into doing whatever she wants except for other Charmspeakers. Her father is a famous movie star and is kidnapped by the Giants (the monsters). She is in love with Jason Grace and is upset to find all her memories of him were fake.
Readers Annotation
Sometime silence is golden, but not this time.