Knowledge Of Any Value Can't Be Given.

No!" Amy Said. "dan, You're Lucky It Was Only Concussive. You Could've Wiped Out The Whole Holt Family." "and That Would've Been Bad Because...?

Just Tell Me, Percy, Do You Still Have The Birthday Gift I Gave You Last Summer?" I Nodded And Pulled Out My Camp Necklace. It Had A Bead For Every Summer I'd Been At Camp Half-blood, But Since Last Year I'd Also Kept A Sand Dollar On The Cord. My Father Had Given It To Me For My Fifteenth Birthday. He'd Told Me I Would Know When To "spend It," But So Far I Hadn't Figured Out What He Meant. All I Knew That It Didn't Fit The Vending Machines In The School Cafeteria.

Throwing Down Your Staff May Sound Like A Sign Of Surrender, But In Egyptian Magic, It's Bad News. It Usually Means, 'hey, I'm Going To Summon A Big Nasty Thing To Kill You While I Stand Safely Inside My Circle And Laugh'.

[my Mom's] Funny That Way, Celebrating Special Occasions With Blue Food. I Think It's Her Way Of Saying Anything Is Possible. Percy Can Pass Seventh Grade. Waffles Can Be Blue. Little Miracles Like That.

I Looked Across The River To Manhattan. It Was A Great View. When Sadie And I Had First Arrived At Brooklyn House, Amos Had Told Us That Magicians Tried To Stay Out Of Manhattan. He Said Manhattan Had Other Problems--whatever That Meant. And Sometimes When I Looked Across The Water, I Could Swear I Was Seeing Things. Sadie Laughed About It, But Once I Thought I Saw A Flying Horse. Probably Just The Mansion's Magic Barriers Causing Optical Illusions, But Still, It Was Weird.