Jacket illustration by Devin Elle Kurtz
I recently sat down with my friend Percy Jackson for an interview about my new book series, CAMP HALF-BLOOD. Percy had some hard-hitting questions . . .
Percy: Dude, seriously? Again with the new books?
Rick: Okay, yes. I didn’t exactly plan to write this new series, but all the pieces just sort of came together and I got excited about the idea. Mostly because I got to create this story with four other fantastic authors, which was really fun!
Percy: Before we get into that, the most important question: Am I in these books?
Rick: Um, no.
Percy: Thank the gods! I need a break, man. I got other stuff going on in my life.
Rick: I know. This is actually a story about something that happened years ago, when you were in seventh grade at Merriweather Prep. It’s set during the autumn between The Lightning Thief and The Sea of Monsters.
Percy: Hold on. That’s the off-season. Not many folks at camp in the fall—just the year-rounders. Annabeth and Grover wouldn’t have been there either, would they?
Rick: Nope. That was Annabeth’s first school year away from camp. And Grover was searching the Sea of Monsters for—
Percy: A nice wedding dress. I remember. But I don’t recall anybody telling me stories about what happened that fall. And you’re saying you wrote four books about it? Why wouldn’t I have heard about this before?
Rick: Er, yeah. There’s a reason for that. You’d have to read the books to understand.
Percy: That’s not fair.
Rick: I’ll tell you this much: Four new demigods arrived at camp that fall. You never met them. You never heard their story. But in their own way, they played a super important role in the battle against the Titans. Without them, you might not have won against Kronos.
Percy: Hmm. Color me skeptical. Then why don’t I know about these heroes, and where are they now? Don’t tell me—
Rick: You’d have to read the books.
Percy: I hate it when you say that. Okay, so if this story is so important, why did you turn it over to four other writers? Are you just letting people ghostwrite your stuff now?
Rick: Please. There’s nothing ghosty about this.
Percy: Is ghosty even a word?
Rick: Is it now. Anyway, these four campers all came from very different backgrounds. So I thought it would be cool if I found four authors who shared those backgrounds and could write the demigods’ stories in a way that felt more real and true. Each writer narrated their part of the story from one character’s point of view. The series is a stand-alone adventure set during the autumn at Camp Half-Blood, told over the course of four books. And my co-authors were hardly ghosts in this process. The best part, for me, is getting to put the spotlight on four extraordinary novelists. We shared the work equally. We split the money equally. Equal billing, equal credit.
Percy: If I shared my grade equally with you, would you co-write my next English essay with me?
Rick: Nice try.
Percy: Bummer. Who are these other writers? Maybe they’d help me with my essay.
Annabelle Oh (photo by Ariel Rodriguez)
Rick: Annabelle Oh co-wrote the first book with me. She’s a super-talented author of middle grade and young adult books who lives in Southern California. The Wild Zone is told from the POV of Katie Kim, a Korean-American daughter of Ares who has a very dangerous secret, and who discovers a forbidden area in the forest at camp called, well, The Wild Zone.
Percy: Dude, I’ve been at camp for years. There’s no such place.
Rick: Yeah, about that . . . There are all kinds of things in the woods you never encountered. But to understand why—
Percy: Don’t say it.
Rick: Read the book!
Kyle Lukoff (photo by Marvin Joseph)
Anyway, I co-wrote the second volume with Kyle Lukoff, who won the Stonewall Award a few years ago for When Aiden Became a Brother. I really loved his middle grade fantasy adventure A World Worth Saving, and since a lot of his work has been about expanding transgender representation in children’s literature, I thought he’d be the perfect person to write the story of Harper Rush, son of Aphrodite. Harper arrives at camp and finds that for the first time in his life he can’t count on charmspeak to get him out of trouble. And then he and the other three demigods get into serious trouble. And on top of all that, his mom arrives, whom he’s never met.
Percy: Aphrodite came to Camp Half-Blood? I didn’t hear about that either. Not going to lie, I feel bad for the guy. Aphrodite can be . . . a lot.
Rick: You have no idea.
Percy: Pretty sure I do.
Rick: Moving right along!
Jade Adia (photo by Gerson Levia)
The third book I co-wrote with Jade Adia. She won the Coretta Scott King / John Steptoe New Talent Award for her book There Goes the Neighborhood. She’s also a schoolteacher, which I have to respect. She writes from the POV of Zuri Chapman, daughter of Apollo, who comes to camp with a massive chip on her shoulder and a desire for revenge against a particular monster that ruined her life . . .
Percy: I know that feeling.
Rick: And then she realizes she might have a chance to get her revenge, but the cost could be very, very high . . .
Percy: Dun-dun-dun!
Rick: Thanks for the sound effects.
Percy: It’s one of the many services we heroes provide. And the fourth book?
Pablo Cartaya (photo by Lea Grandvalet)
Rick: Is by me and Pablo Cartaya! A New York Times best-selling author who was awarded a Pura Belpré Honor along with many other accolades. He’s Cuban American, lives in Florida, and has also done a bunch of work for TV and film. His book picks up the story from the POV of Benny Garcia, an unclaimed demigod who is assigned to Hermes cabin when he arrives at camp.
Percy: Been there. Does this Benny kid find out who his godly parent is?
Rick: . . .
Percy: Hello?
Rick: I’m just wondering how much I should say. Because what he finds out, uh, well, it’s a shocker. Like, a BIG shocker.
Percy: I swear to the gods, if you tell me I have to read the book to find out—
Rick: You could always ask Annabeth to read it and give you a summary.
Percy: Very funny. You mentioned TV and film a minute ago. Any chance I could watch this story on the screen?
Rick: In fact, Camp Half-Blood is under option with Disney+ right now for a potential TV show.
Percy: Nice!
Rick: Well, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will get made. A lot of books that get optioned are never made into shows or films. But I agree it would be pretty cool if it were.
A big reason I got inspired to write this book series was because I was working on the first two seasons of your show at the time—
Percy: I have a show?
Rick: Um, in any case, I was thinking about what happened at camp between the books I wrote about your adventures. I figured maybe enough time had gone by that I could consider the events that happened in the Wild Zone no longer top secret. So I kinda declassified them and plotted out the Camp Half-Blood series.
Percy: Back up. I have a TV show?
Rick: Ahem. I also thought the series would be fun to write because it gives us a chance to spend more time with many demigods we haven’t seen enough of, in my opinion, like Charles Beckendorf, the Stoll brothers, Silena Beauregard, and Clarisse LaRue.
Percy: I think my brain must have short-circuited. It sounded like you said you wanted more time with Clarisse LaRue.
Rick: Be nice. Yes, Clarisse has a big role in Camp Half-Blood.
Percy: Oh, Clarisse and I are cool now. Mostly. But if she was part of this super-secret story and she never mentioned it to me—
Rick: Again, there’s a reason for that. Which you find out in the books.
Percy: Follow-up question: Why are you like this? Also, do you expect people to read all fifty bajillion of your previous books before they can understand the Camp Half-Blood series? Seems like you’re asking a lot.
Rick: No, I designed the story so it stands by itself. You can start with The Wild Zone, not having read anything by me before, and it will make sense, though you might hear some people talking in the background about this kid named Percy Jackson, and you might wonder who that is.
Percy: So they do talk about me at camp when I’m not there. What do they say?
Rick: Only nice things.
Percy: This is how I know you write fiction. Okay, fine. The story sounds pretty cool. But weren’t you writing another series about the stuff I went through during my senior year? Not that I want to re-live that, but did you ever finish it?
Rick: I’m still writing book three, which is the last one! When I got the idea for the Camp Half-Blood series, it kind of jumped in front of that novel. And it has taken a while, because it’s complicated coordinating a story with four other authors. But as soon as work on Camp Half-Blood is wrapped, I’ll go back to writing the third senior year adventure about you. I’ve got the first draft done, so hopefully the wait won’t be too much longer.
Percy: And that’s the last book about me, right? Please and thank you?
Rick: You know, I try never to say never—
Percy: (coughs loudly)
Rick: Yes, as far as I’m planning right now, that book will be the last Percy Jackson-narrated adventure. I think it’s the right place to let you sail off into the sunset and enjoy your life.
Percy: By writing college essays. And doing interviews with you. Nice. But okay, I’ll take it. So when does The Wild Zone come out? I want to know what happened at camp that nobody ever told me about.
Rick: This September! Then the following books will be published in six-month intervals, so you won’t have to wait too long.
Percy: Well, Rick, it’s been real. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think Annabeth is calling.
Rick: You don’t use a cell phone.
Percy: Yeah, I should take this.
Rick: Okay, man. You do you!
Percy: I keep trying. And you keep throwing adventures at me, but sure. Peace out!
END IRIS MESSAGE
The Wild Zone will be on sale in the UK / US markets on September 29, 2026. International edition release dates may vary. Stay tuned for more info!
