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Summary

Chapter 1

Percy has a nightmare in which he sees one of his best friends, a satyr named Grover Underwood, running from an identified foe through a thunderstorm. As Grover runs, he mutters that he needs to “warn them,” but he does not elaborate further. He hides in a wedding dress shop but the front door is shortly after blown open, and Percy hears a “monstrous” cry. 

Percy wakes with a start and glimpses a shadow on his bedroom window, but it disappears before he can identify it. His mom, Sally Jackson, calls for him to hurry so that he does not miss his last day of seventh grade. Percy gets ready for school and reflects that, for the first time in his life, he has made it through an entire school year without getting expelled. Percy is a demigod, someone with one mortal parent and one godly parent, and he has a tendency to attract trouble. Percy is also excited because he is leaving tomorrow for Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp that protects and trains demigods and Percy’s “favorite place in the world.” Percy sits down to breakfast and is confused and upset when his mom says that Chiron, the activities director at Camp Half-Blood, doesn’t think it’s safe for Percy to come to camp this year. Sally says they’ll talk about it when he gets home, and a baffled Percy heads to school. The mysterious shadow returns as soon as he steps outside but, once again, it vanishes before Percy can get a good look. 

Read a full book summary of the previous book in this series, The Lightning Thief.

Chapter 2

Percy arrives for his last day at Meriwether College Prep and is soon accosted by the school bully, Matt Sloan. Sloan also targets Percy’s friend Tyson, a tall and homeless seventh grader who is easily frightened and who talks like a “much younger kid.” Tyson becomes upset and pushes Sloan away with enough force to knock him back fifteen feet. Percy tries to defend Tyson, and Sloan says that he will get revenge during gym. 

Later, Sloan arrives in the gym with a group of large prospective students with strange name-tags (Marrow Sucker, Skull Eater, and Joe Bob). The students begin a game of dodgeball, and Percy soon realizes that the new students are actually monsters who are trying to eat Percy and his classmates. The monsters summon explosive dodgeballs to use as weapons and Percy laments that his sword, Riptide, is in his gym locker and not with him. Percy fights the monsters anyway with the help of Tyson, who is surprisingly unaffected by the fiery dodgeballs, and they manage to take down two out of the three monsters. The final monster is about to kill Percy when Percy’s other best friend, Annabeth Chase, appears out of nowhere and kills the final monster. She then reveals to a stunned Percy that she has been using her magic baseball hat (that turns the wearer invisible) to trail Percy all morning, thus explaining the mysterious shadow. She tells him to meet her outside, and to bring Tyson with him. The principal then arrives and Sloan accuses Percy of destroying the gym. Percy grabs Tyson and Riptide and runs to meet Annabeth.

Next section Chapters 3 & 4

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