All Rileyed Up

Meet Daniel X, a 15 year old alien hunter ridding the earth of incorrigible aliens. The Dangerous Days of Daniel X is book one of a series, and this particular, um, episode gives us a glimpse of Daniel’s life and family history as well as his encounter with Seth Ergent, number six on The List of Alien Outlaws.

According to the Young Adult Library Services Association, boys more often than girls don’t like to read because they find it “boring,” they “like other activities better” and they “can’t get into the stories.” I checked in with Beth Patin, head librarian of The Holy Cross School in New Orleans, an all boys school grades 5-12, who said, “Boys do read. They just don’t associate themselves with the type of books that most English teachers suggest. Teachers often assign classic novels that are perceived as uninteresting. It would liven things up if a teacher would assign a current story, that maybe has an Ipod in it.”

She encourages her students to read by “Finding out what they are interested in and then making a connection with a book in that subject area. Boys love technology: audio-books, the Amazon Kindle, and electronic books are great formats for guys.”

So will Daniel X make the cut?

I asked Patin to help me out in a completely unscientific survey and asked all the students who stopped by her library during lunchtime whether or not they would read this book based on the description above. Out of ten students, seven said yes, one asked for more details, one said he’d read it already (nerd alert) and one, interestingly, repsonded “I don’t read.”

James Patterson, the father of a ten year old boy himself, aims to give boys something they’ll want to read. Seizing on the facts that boys like action and are more inclined to read comics and graphic novels over other forms of fiction, Patterson included in The Dangerous Days of Daniel X all the action, dialogue, drama, aliens, and superpowers one might expect to find in a comic book or graphic novel, replete with jokes and gross-out material (think scum, ooze, earwax, and the word “spaghetti-like”). Surprisingly, no skateboarding, which I had fully expected.

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X is quick reading and does feel like I’m reading the thoughts of a boy. Some of the dialogue gets a little silly for me, but then again, I’ve overheard boys’ conversations and they sometimes sound silly too (and yes, I’m sure they think I sound ridiculous). As a mother, I give this the mom-stamp of approval for boys. It’s clean and it follows all the basic elements of novel writing, so it’s a good starter book to interest boys in reading before they move on to heavier stuff. All in all, I’ll pass this copy on to my nephew and I think he’ll enjoy it.

Things to know:

Buy the book here.

The book’s website here.

Want to read and review books like this? Go here.

P.S. On another note, congrats to Beckie, who won the CD giveaway.