Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr is a weekly Canadian podcast about young adult literature, their film and television adaptations, and everything in between. Now in its sixth season, the podcast—hosted by film critic Joe Lipsett and English professor Brenna Clarke-Gray—aims to highlight the cultural worth of young adult and middle-grade texts, with a focus on Canadian, Indigenous and minority creatives and stories.

Join us weekly for deep dives, as well as a round of YA BINGO.

Book 6, Chapter 31: Percy Jackson and the Olympians S01

At listener Kaetlyn’s urging, Brenna and Joe check out S01 of the Percy Jackson TV show on Disney+.

It’s a much better text than the film! With more time, the central trio gels better, the motivation of Percy’s mom is more clearly defined, and the adventures aren’t as rushed.

Plus: our fave Gods, a “feminist” Medusa episode, a few rushed elements, and whether we’ll watch S02.

Read on for more about this week’s episode from co-host Joe Lipsett:

We’ve covered countless sci-fi and fantasy adaptations on the podcast, including the most recent The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Back in 2020, we also covered the first film in Rick Riordan’s greek-themed series, which…isn’t particularly good.

So Brenna and I were slightly trepidatious in revisiting this title, particularly since it was eight episodes. Thankfully giving these teen actors an opportunity to bond works well and all of the individual adventures have room to breathe. It’s definitely a solid adaptation that’s worth checking out (read That Shelf‘s review) -JL

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