James Patterson, the New York Times bestselling author and the father of an eleven-year-old son, has a new book- Daniel X: Watch the Skies- a second novel to the young adult series, Daniel X.
Sadly, I am not nearly as excited about this book as I was about Maximum Ride.
This book had a fun story in there somewhere. Nice aliens and slimy goo to blow up, a little romance and a "kid" hero. The problem is, I wasn't fooled. I wonder if kids will be.
Just adding "iPod" and "Netflix" and "laptop" into a story doesn't make it cool. I kept waiting for Daniel to say "Stay in School!" and "Don't do drugs!" so the cliche would be complete. He was super polite to Judy's parents, so they just loved him. He had to altar the minds of all the kids in class so they would read a book, and after that all they wanted to do was read and read some more. To be good you have to read and study. The TVs, cell phones and electronics nearly doomed the entire human race, and are therefore bad. It really got to be a little too much lecture and not enough fun.
The setup of the book was a bright spot. Short chapters makes for a very easy read. Each of the chapters is action-packed, and definitely page-turners. Terrific format for those who don't read all that much, lots of accomplishment.
I have to say, after reading the Maximum Ride series and being so enthralled and excited about the books and the characters, I was really looking forward to reading his new "boy" version, but was very dissappointed.
Doesn't mean I won't read it to my son in a couple of years when he's 8, however. I'm more than happy to see whether or not he'll be fooled.
until next time...
happy reading!
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