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Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Review of Daniel X

I really enjoying reading, and I love to try new books. I can't fall asleep at night unless I read first. My husband and I sincerely hope that both of our boys develop the same love of reading that we have. However, I have learned from talking with other moms of boys, that it can be hard to find books that are interesting to boys. When I think back to my junior high years, Sweet Valley High was the rage. The girls in my class couldn't get enough of them. That's where our allowances went. I don't remember the boys showing any interest whatsoever in reading them. With all that in mind, I happy to see that Mom Central and Mother Talk teamed up to have bloggers review James Patterson and Michael Ledwidges' The Dangerous Days of Daniel X. Being a fan of James Patterson's adult books myself, I was happy to read more of his work.

Lest you think this is an adult book, let me explain. This is the first book in a science fiction series written for readers of all ages. It even has its own Wikipedia entry. As Patterson said in a NY Times article, he is writing books for younger readers to encourage kids to enjoy reading. He wanted a book that would captivate kids. He is the father of a ten year old boy.

To give a brief background, Daniel X is about a boy who is alien hunter. After his parents are killed by an alien, he sets off to rid the world of aliens. He has a number of powers that allow him to do things like create people from past memories and change form.

This book is very creative. Daniel's powers alone make him very unique. Unlike other superheros, he doesn't have just one super power. Throughout the book, new powers keep appearing. I think this alone will keep kids and adults alike entertained.

The book also uses "fun" language. For example, I think kids would appreciate the very frequent appearance of the word "wack-a-doo". As I was reading some of the descriptions I could picture a kid squealing "Eww! Gross!" with delight; lots of talk about eyeballs and brains. This is definitely written to keep the kids wanting to read further. Charles Dickens it's not, but that's not its purpose. Its purpose is to get kids to enjoy to read.

When I first started reading the book, it reminded me a little of Harry Potter, particularly because Daniel's parents were murdered when he was just a tyke. However, I don't think that's a bad thing. Tons of kids (and many adults including me) love Harry Potter! Because those books explored danger and had magic and lots of fun things to provoke kids' imaginations, they Harry Potter series made for great reading. I believe Daniel X would appeal for the same reason. After the initial introduction, the book steered away from Harry Potter-like tones, but it continued to demonstrate exploring power and danger for someone who looks just like the kid next door.

What I liked best about the book was its potential to generate a lot of good conversation between parents and kids. Because it could be fun for people of all ages, it would be a fun subject for a family discussion or a family read-aloud. I also appreciated the fact that the book was broken into short chapters, which makes it more accessible for kids, particularly if they are taking turns reading it out loud. I'm not usually big on science fiction. Frankly I read it because I was curious what was out there for my sons. However, I really enjoyed it. To order this book check it out on amazon.com . For additional info, check out the publisher's website and of course the book website.

posted by Alex Elliot @ 8:09 AM 0 comments

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Name:	Alex Elliot
Home:	MA, United States
About Me:	Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 4.5 year old and a 2 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
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