The XX Factor

Girls Get Their Own Percy Jackson

Publishers Weekly is reporting that a debut young-adult trilogy-pitched as “a Percy Jackson for teenage girls”-just sold for a mind-boggling seven figures. Apparently, it’s about a young Nantucket teenager who learns that she and a “local heartthrob” are “playing out some version of a weighty ancient love affair.” Oh, and apparently said girl-named Helen, natch-is always being dogged by the Fates.

The first book in the trilogy, Starcrossed , is set to publish in the U.S. in the summer of 2011.

As a big myth nerd growing up-and a big fan of high-concept YA now-I find the premise intriguing. (Plus, it kind of reminds me of one of my favorite Buffy episodes .) But the Percy Jackson allusion worries me, because I found that series dull and badly written, in a fling-the-book-across-the-room kind of way. Still, the idea of having a major new fantasy series with a female lead sounds pretty awesome-here’s hoping that the romantic storyline isn’t too drippy. As EW’s Shelf Life blog notes, with “its high school setting, forbidden love, foggy locale, and young female target audience,” the Starcrossed series sounds an awful lot like another YA juggernaut we all know and love .

Photograph of author Rick Riordan by Larry D. Moore under a Creative Commons ShareAlike License.