My 9 year old son and I read the Lightening Thief together and he was a huge fan. The original story is a coming of age saga akin to Harry Potter. I was sorry to see that they aged the characters and the story was more geared toward a 14 year old. It seems that the movie would have appealed more to the twilight audience then the 9 year old audience that the books were intended for. Nevertheless, the special effects and the opportunity to see the modern day Greek mythology on the big screen was delightful. As an adult, I enjoyed the movie more then my son who critiqued many of the differences from the book.