book. We DID finish it and loved the story - from beginning to end (minus the mild profanity, mind you :).
So when MotherTalk sent out information about a second Daniel X book, I was quite ecstatic. I signed up, all giggly that I could surprise my 9 year-old with the next book. (He was quite disappointed upon finishing the first book that the second book wasn’t available yet.) He was so excited when the book arrived, but he refused to wait for me to read it to him aloud. He wanted to devour it for himself.
Of course, the stipulation was that he would have to help me blog my review. You know, 9 year-olds really can’t be trusted. He’s sitting right here pouting about having to help me blog about the book. He’d much rather be out raking leaves (which normally I wouldn’t complain about, but I’ve got this deadline hanging over my head). I don’t know what the real issue is, except it’s something I’ve asked him to do. He thinks I should have read the book myself. Heck! It took me three months to read the 6th Harry Potter to myself; the window to read Daniel X: Watch the Skies
He’s tired of pouting and now seems a bit more willing to cooperate . . . . offering to pay him for his time in screen-time dollars didn’t hurt . . . so, here’s the 9 year-old perspective on Daniel X: Watch the Skies by James Patterson and Ned Rust:
Daniel X is basically the same character as he was in the first book,
except he learns from his dad how to tele-port. So I ask a stupid question, “Isn’t his dad dead?” I am reminded (rather sarcastically) that in the first book, Daniel X figured out how to “be” with his parents by thinking about them real hard. How did I forget that? Anyway, this tele-porting talent comes in handy when he finds himself in the midst of a fight with an alien and needs to “run” home to get something important (he just can’t remember what right now and I’m distracted just thinking about how much good use I could make of this tele-porting ability . . .).
But I digress . . . still loved the short chapter format of the book and loved the science fiction story line with good guys vs. bad guys. Daniel X’s friends (also conjured up by thinking about them) fought about 3000 aliens while Daniel X went after Alien #3 in a really intense part of the book. Daniel X was going after Alien #6 in the first book, which you really have to read to “get” the second book. My son (the smart aleck) won’t tell me who won the battle - he says I’ve got to read the book for myself (and so do you if you want to know).
One of his favorite parts of the book was when Alien #3 appeared on a TV screen and could see Daniel X and his friends about to attack some of the alien’s henchmen. He thought that was a pretty cool power for a bad alien to have. I’m thinking that’d be a pretty handy ability for a mom to have . . . kinda like having eyes in the back of your head :).
All in all, we give both Daniel X books a big thumbs up! Can’t wait for Demons & Druids - the next in the Daniel X series (this book had a sneak preview which makes it doubly hard to wait for it!). Also coming in December 2009 is another book by James Patterson called Witch and Wizard. The preview included makes this sound like an awesome read too! You can find out more about James Patterson by visiting his website at www.jamespatterson.com. Happy reading!
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