The Dreaded Summer Reading List…

School starts in two weeks.  Want to know how many books my kids have read?

Not the required two.

Not that they are going to be tested or required to write a report on them, but still.

Matthew chose two books from his list.  The Hobbit and White Fang.  Neither of them were comprehendable for him.  He was frustrated.

So I told him, “Look, I don’t care what you read, but you need to read two books.”

And then The Dangerous Days of Daniel X appeared on our doorstep.  I was excited as it’s by James Patterson, my absolute FAVORITE author.  I mean, FAVORITE.  I leafed through it before handing it to Matthew and sure enough, it was in true Patterson format… short chapters.

I’m a fan of short chapters because I’m anal when it comes to stopping reading.  I can’t stop in the middle of a chapter, so if I’m nodding off, it’s hard.  I’m funny like that I know.

But I think for kids, long chapters are daunting as well.  So, I was excited to tell Matthew that they were short and told him about my experiences with James Patterson books… that, for the most part, they were quick reads.  Only because they are so good that you can’t put them down.

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X was no different.

Matthew came in the room with me in the evenings to read.  He would stop every so often to ask me a word, or what something meant, and I continually asked him if it was a good book.

I don’t know about your boy (specifically) but most don’t like to read.  Matthew goes in spurts, but the #1 reason boys don’t like to read?

They find it boring.

Ask most MEN and short of the “articles” in Playb*y, they’ll tell you the same thing.  ::grin::

On the whole, Matthew and I both liked this book.  He told me as things were happening.  There were a few nights that I made him put the book away because it’s bed time and Matthew is typically very methodical with his reading.  If he says he’s going to read for 30 minutes, he reads for 30 minutes and then stops.  Regardless of where he is on the page.

“One more chapter, Mom?” he would ask.  Of course, I said yes.  They were short.

And then he turned to me and said, “Mom, I don’t know how he does it.  The chapters are short but at the end of every single one of them, he leaves you wanting to know more.”

And he does.  He does it not only in this book, but with all of this books.

Now, take a look at this trailer and let me know if you don’t think your son would enjoy this?

Cool, right?

Majorly.

And I don’t even like that genre of books.  But I, also, liked this one.

The only thing that I could recommend that might make it a little better is that there were certain things that I don’t think most 10 year olds know about.  For example, early in the book Daniel is traveling, via Greyhound with an Atlas with him.  Matthew wasn’t sure what an Atlas was, however, after I pointed out to him that an Atlas was a hard copy of MapQuest, and pulled one out to show him, he understood.

Maybe that’s just my kid because we do every thing on line.

Over all though, I highly recommend the Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson whether you’re 10 or 31 one, male or female.  You’ll fall in love with Daniel and your emotions will rise and fall as you turn each page following his journey on closing in on his parents’ murderer before the Earth is destroyed for good.

If you’re interested in reading more about the Dangerous Days of Daniel X you can find more information here.  Or pick up your own copy here.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get on my son to read another book in the next two weeks before school starts!

Happy reading!

Until next time…