All Rileyed Up

One year ago, the world was introduced to Alien Hunter Daniel X in The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. Daniel’s adventures now continue in Daniel X: Watch the Skies by James Patterson and Ned Rust.

Daniel may look like any other teenage boy, but do not be deceived: he can create his friends and family out of thin air, control minds, leap tall buildings in a single bound, the whole shebang-a-bang. He uses his powers to hunt alien outlaws, who are known to him via a perpetually updating list called The List of Alien Outlaws on Terra Firma.

In the first book, Daniel took on Bad Alien Number Six. In this book, he tackles Number Five, an entertainment mogul alien described as “Kind of an alien version of Aaron Spelling, if Aaron Spelling were a few degrees more bloodthirsty than Attila the Hun.” In the next Daniel X book, it looks like he’ll be fighting Bad Alien Number Three. Someday, Daniel will face Bad Alien Number One, AKA The Prayer, AKA The Alien Who Killed His Parents.

Like its predecessor, Daniel X: Watch the Skies is fast-paced, filled with smart mouth teenagers, rock ‘em sock ‘em action sequences, and grosser than gross aliens. The emphasis in these books is definitely on the gross factor: alien stench, appearance, and appetite range from gross to grosser to Paris Hilton. Which brings me to an important point about these books: never forget that they are written with the purpose of interesting boys in reading. Boys think gross is funny and/or cool, so a book full of gross aliens ought to appeal to them.

Boy readers will also respond well to the protagonist: though Daniel is an alien himself, he is still full of raging teen boy hormones, from his thoughts on his pseudo-girlfriend, Dana, to his reaction to the pretty blue-eyed girl at the diner, Judy Blue Eyes. When Judy tells him her last name is McGillicutty, his immediate reaction is “I was tempted to tell her name sounded just like a substance, magillakedi, that’s excreted by a three-hundred-pound centipede-like creature from Frizia Nine and is one of the three worst-smelling compounds ever discovered… but then I thought better of it.”

Offhand, I think a boy will find that funny.

While I don’t recommend the Daniel X series to adults or teenage girls doodling Mrs. Edward Cullen all over their notebooks, I feel safe suggesting it to boys ages 8-15, especially ones into alien stories. I also applaud Patterson and co for targeting this demographic, because it’s a hard one to tap into what with competition in the form of video games, skateboard parks, and BMX stunts.

On a final note, I’m just going to share my favorite passage from Daniel X Watch the Skies, without ruining one little bit of the book’s plot:

“You guys own both Jackass movies, don’t you?”
“Dude. And T-shirts,” he said, lifting up his buddy’s sweatshirt to show an “I (heart) Jackass” decal.
I like humans; I truly do. But, sometimes it amazes me their civilization ever got off the ground.

***

This book review is part of a MotherTalk blog tour.

You can also read my review of the first Daniel X book here and my review of Maximum Ride 3 (from Patterson’s other YA series) here.

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.

James Patterson’s Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports is a book that lives up to its title, complete with gangs, explosions, and romance (hoo ha!).

Quick summary minus spoilers: Maximum Ride, better known as Max, is a smart-talking, fourteen year old girl who is the oldest of six children called bird kids. The bird kids are the result of experiments performed by genetic scientists heck-bent (PG-rated book, folks) on curing the world of war and greed and environmental destruction. How do these megalomaniacs plan to cure the world of said evils? Why, by killing everyone who contributes to the problems and creating a stronger, more powerful human species. It’s up to Max and her trusty flock to save the world from this “Re-Evolution.”

Now, some of you more faithful readers may know that I have issues with eagles. Although Patterson never specifies any particular species of bird the bird kids’ DNAs have been spliced with, I feel confident saying that Max would be a terrifying person to behold. She has WINGS, people, WINGS! (A point Max makes herself with such lines as “I blame you for altering my DNA! I mean, I have wings, lady! What were you thinking?”) Yet I read this entire book in one day because it was THAT CAPTIVATING AND ENJOYABLE. (I also thought this review was due a couple days ago and had put off reading it to the last minute, but do not let that deter you from the original point that this book is THAT CAPTIVATING AND ENJOYABLE).

My overall thought is this: if you are a boy or girl between the ages of 9-14, you will enjoy this book and likely get a decent vocabulary lesson out of it (and if you’re really good, you might catch the grammatical error in the first sentence of chapter 37). If you are the parent of said child, you may have just stumbled upon a book that will open your child’s eyes to the wonderful world of reading.

Why will boys like this? Danger. Excitement. Fight sequences. This book is quite comic book-esque, with its genetically altered heroes and snarky one-liners (Wolverine or Gambit, anyone?). See, the bird kids are considered an imperfect experiment, and those heck-bent scientists wish to “retire” them (a euphemism I’m sure you can interpret). This aspect gives every fight sequence the admirable quality of “fighting for one’s right to life.” Everyone deserves the right to live, no matter how different they are.

Why will girls like this? In short, Max. Max is one hundred percent female and one hundred percent bad mamma jamma. The leader of the flock, her catchphrase throughout the book is “There’s always a plan.” She is quick-thinking, assertive, confident, strong, and many more adjectives that lend themselves readily to the word “Heroine.” This girl takes care of herself, her friends, and the world (ie, she cares about her fellow people). If you really want to get a feel for Max, consider this line: “I know this will surprise you, but I don’t damsel well. Distress, I can do. Damseling? Not so much.” Come on, you know you prefer your daughter reading about tough witty girls like her instead of Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield (not that I know anything at all about Sweet Valley High).

Why will both boys and girls enjoy this book? Power in the hands of youth. It’s a book that rallies the young to take a stance for the world they are to inherit – it reminds children that they CAN make a difference, that it is within their grasp to foster new understandings of how to take care of the world, and that it’s okay to express dissatisfaction with the way “the grown-ups” (yes, that’s the word the book uses) handle things.

As for setting (which I’m a big fan of), Maximum Ride takes us to a handful of locales, thereby ensuring a future movie with beautiful “filmed on location!” sets. I’ve never read a book by Patterson before, although my cousin raves about the Alex Cross books. There are a couple point of view shifts that I didn’t catch until after the first couple sentences (personal pet peeve), but other than that, the pacing is excellent, and easy to read. While Patterson does capture the voice of a fourteen year old accurately, Max makes references to pop culture that I daresay a fourteen year old of today wouldn’t make. Do you know any fourteen year olds who reference Yogi Bear? Do they even know who Yogi Bear is? It’s only one sentence here and there, and not a big deal, because us “grown ups” will get those jokes.

On that note, I think I’m going to go participate in a beach clean up or protest a pharmaceutical company, or, I don’t know, start a blog and save the world. Happy reading.

Important things for you to know:

Buy the book here.

Read more about the book here.

Want to review books like this? Go here.

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