PERCY JACKSON: THE CHALICE OF THE GODS

Nico di Angelo finally gets a book built around him instead of around Percy Jackson, and it pairs him with Will Solace for a rescue mission straight into Tartarus, the worst place on Rick Riordan's entire mythological map. Riordan co-wrote this one with Mark Oshiro, and it leans into everything Nico's already been through by this point in the series — losing his mother and sister, being outed against his will, losing his friend Jason — without turning the book into a recap. It's cataloged for ages 10 to 14 and sits within the Percy Jackson series, though it works as a way in for a reader who's never met these characters before, since the quest itself doesn't demand the whole backstory to follow.

Nico and Will end up carrying as much of this story as the monsters do, since the real question running through it is whether two people who have each been through this much can lean on each other and survive something genuinely dangerous. The humor Riordan's known for is still here to keep the tone from getting too heavy, but this entry sits a little darker and more emotionally direct than a typical Percy Jackson adventure, handling grief and identity openly alongside the action. A kid who's already worked through the main Percy Jackson books gets real payoff on characters they've followed for years; a kid who hasn't can start right here and follow along fine.