The Battle of the Labyrinth: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4

There's good neurodiverse representation here: All kids with one god parent (Percy and all other Camp Half-Blood campers) have dyslexia and ADHD. Also, Annabeth, leads this quest and is the smartest in the group. There's one Black character mentioned at this point in the series, Charles Beckendorf, and a Hispanic character, Chris Rodriguez, both half-bloods at camp.

Skirmishes and all-out battles with mythological monsters using swords, arrows, Greek fire, fists, rocks, explosions, and lava. Some monsters drink blood, some shoot poison, all come from deep within Tartarus to kill demi-gods. Two half-blood campers die in battle, one nearly dies of madness, one has his body possessed by a Titan. Most other half-blood injuries -- including shooting out of a volcano -- can be cured with the nectar of the gods. Some fighting in a skull-adorned sport arena with swords, nets, shields, and tridents -- a monster and a centaur die and turn to dust. Flashbacks to the story of Daedalus and how he loses his son, Icarus, and then how he kills his nephew and helps kill a vengeful king. Much talk about how a boy lost his sister on a quest the year before. Plenty of death imagery: the raising of spirits, including ghosts that talk, and there are many old skeletons in the labyrinth and talk of Cretans in the old days sending in human sacrifices.

A couple of kisses, a short-and-sweet romance, and talk of boyfriends and girlfriends at camp. Much talk of gods having affairs with mortals and their resulting kids, the half-bloods. Some talk of Zeus' infidelity specifically, and in front of his wife Hera.

Hades said instead of hell.

Parents need to know that Rick Riordan's The Battle of the Labyrinth is the fourth book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Like the first three books, you'll find plenty of monster-fighting action. This time, the monsters coming out of Tartarus with designs to kill all half-bloods like Percy are even bigger and scarier and they wage war with the campers at the end. Two half-blood campers die in battle, one nearly dies of madness, one has his body possessed by a Titan. Most other half-blood injuries -- including shooting out of a volcano -- can be cured with the nectar of the gods. There's also some fighting in a skull-adorned sport arena with swords, nets, shields, and tridents; a monster and a centaur die and turn to dust. The quest takes place in the labyrinth, originally designed by the inventor Daedalus, and flashbacks reveal the tragedies of his life: the death of his son and even murder. Expect more great things from our favorite ADHD, dyslexic hero, Percy Jackson. He will do anything to save his friends. Also expect the goddess Aphrodite to continue messing with his love life. There's much more heartache, jealousy, and confusion than actual kissing -- sorry, Percy.