You’re probably familiar with author James Patterson, after all, it’s estimated that there are 150 million copies of his books in print worldwide. With his series of books starring Alex Cross and now his series featuring the Women’s Murder Club, Patterson has defined the genre of detective fiction.

But James Patterson is also a father, and he has a son, and he wanted to get his son excited about reading, and not just comic books, either, but reading fiction. So, he wrote a new book. The Dangerous Days of Daniel X could be categorized as young adult fiction, but take it from me, as someone who has found books within the YA section of the library that are better written than a lot of fiction for adults, The Dangerous Days of Daniel X is NOT just a “kid’s book.”

Excerpt (source: USA Today)

“IF THIS WERE A MOVIE instead of real life, this would be the part where in a strange, ominous voice I’d say, “Take me to your leader!” But since you are far more important in making a difference in this world than the earth’s leaders, and last time I checked on the Internet those leaders seem to have more than enough on their plates, and for the most part I’m not a total dork, I’ll just go with a simple “Hi.”

My name is Daniel, and this is the first volume of my life story, which, hopefully, will be a very long and distinguished one.

Why should you read it? Very good question.

Maybe because this is your planet, and you have a right to know what’s actually happening on it. And more important, off it. Trust me, there are legions of strange and disturbing creatures out there you probably don’t want to know about.”

Daniel is not an ordinary 15 year old boy. First of all, his parents were killed when he was three, by an alien. Yes, an alien. His parents were Alien Hunters, sworn to rid Earth of the aliens trying to destroy it, and they were killed protecting The List, which contains the names of the Most Wanted Aliens. Now Daniel has the list, and he is taking up where his parents left off.

There’s just one more thing about Daniel that’s important to know (and isn’t a spoiler)-he has power. He has the greatest power. Daniel has the power…to create. From the molecules of the air, he can create, well, anything. Mostly he creates his parents and his four best friends. Think about it- how else could a 15 year old rent an apartment? Not only can Daniel create people who look like they are real, the people he creates ARE real. At least for a while. His parents take care of grown-up stuff like registering him at school, and his friends provide companionship and occasionally help him out of a tight spot.

I won’t give away any more of the plot except to say that not only should your sons read it (depending on reading level, I’d say 5th grade and up), but your daughters should read it, and YOU should read it. Like his series Maximum Ride which I reviewed on this blog previously (and there’s a fourth booking coming out soon, yay!), Patterson has a unique “ear” for writing teenage dialogue, and for putting in references that kids can relate to. You’ll find references to Wi-Fi, iPods, and Playstation 3 neatly worked into the story, and it’s just one more way to capture the attention of today’s technology-savvy kids. Not that kids shouldn’t read classic literature either, but let’s face it, if you are struggling to get your sons to read anything other than Manga (ahem, my son Ryan, who only wants to read the Naruto series), you want to find them something that they are going to be able to relate to.

For more information about James Patterson’s The Dangerous Days of Daniel X, check out the book’s website. YouTube has a CGI “trailer” that gives just a tiny hint at the plot. And, there’s a wonderful interview with author James Patterson on the Borders website. I really recommend this book for all ages, boys, girls, grownups. It will get everyone reading fiction!

The full title is Mama Rock’s Rules: Ten Lessons for Raising a Houseful of Successful Children, and the co-authors are Rose Rock, mother of actor/comedian Chris Rock, and Valerie Graham. Rose Rock raised ten biological children, 17 foster children, and an assortment of other children who hung out at her house.

Each of her ten rules address a different parenting issue, from the importance of being your child’s parent and not their friend, to the sure-to-be-controversial “Don’t Lie Down with Anything You Don’t Want to Live with Forever,” her frank, no nonsense approach to teaching children about sex. Within each chapter are margin quotes from one of her children about how the particular rule impacted their life, Mama’s Mojo which are paragraphs-within-paragraphs that give a quick tip, and then a recap of all the strategies for each rule at the end of each chapter.

Chapter Three is the rule “Wipe Your Mouth Out Before You Come into the House”, which are Mama Rock’s Rules about lying. I dog-eared one page, because it’s the same philosophy we have taught our children, and it goes like this:

Tell the Truth no matter how Bad it is. Like Mama Rock, we have always told our children that there is nothing they can’t tell us, no matter how much they think they will get in trouble for it. The consequences for being caught in a lie are always worse than admitting the truth. She also has a brilliantly clever way to get a kid to confess to something without asking them a “yes” or “no” question. If you ask a child “did you break that lamp?”, their first response will almost always be no, because it’s a matter of self-protection. Instead, Mama Rock suggests you sit that child down with you at the table, maybe give them some ice cream or another treat, and then ask them, “WHEN you broke the lamp, what happened?” GENIUS!

The other section I dog-eared is Mama Rock’s rule about curfew. I wish she would print this on a poster that I could hang up near the front door of my house! She says that the letters “curfew” stand for:

C-Confirm with all kids before they leave the house, where are they going, how are they getting there, who are they going with, and what time they need to be home.
U-Understand that curfew is not a convenience. Decide the consequences of breaking curfew before your child leaves.
R-Remember to reinforce consequences ahead of time. Remind your child what your rules are regarding curfew and what the consequence is before they leave.
F-Forget one standard curfew time for every child in every situation, be flexible.
E-Enforce the consequences (no matter how hard it is). It’s about learning responsibility.
W-Welcome the chance to give your child something to work for. When your child consistently honors their curfew, give them more privileges as a reward.

Brilliant! For more about the author, you can read this interview with Rose Rock published on MSNBC.com, and visit Harper Collins Publishers for more info on the book. To order the book from Amazon.com and help me earn a nickel as an Amazon affiliate, please use this link to order a copy of Mama Rock’s Rules! And, to see what other MotherTalk reviewers are saying please visit the Mama Rock’s Rules page on MotherTalk.

The Cure for Modern Life was not an easy book for me to read. I had read and enjoyed author Lisa Tucker’s book Once Upon A Day, and reviewed it for MotherTalk, so I was looking forward to reading this book as well when MotherTalk asked for volunteers. The main character is Matthew Connelly, an executive at a giant pharmaceutical company called Astor-Denning. He has spent years getting a new wonder drug into the market, but his tactics bring ethics into question. The night before he is headed to Japan to work on correcting mis-information about the product, called Galvenar, he is walking through Manhattan when he finds in his path a frantic ten year old boy yelling that he needs help for his sick sister.

Despite his self-centered nature, Matthew agrees to help Danny and his sister, and their drug-addicted mother who was hiding. Three year old Isabelle is sick and vomiting, so Matthew takes the three of them back to his posh apartment. The next morning, as he is leaving to catch his plane, Matthew agrees to let Danny stay in the apartment until Isabelle wakes up, their mother having left. This is uncharacteristically altruistic of Matthew.

Other characters in the story are Matthew’s ex-girlfriend Amelia, who works for an industry watchdog and is threatening to expose medical truths about the Galvenar drug. Amelia is also dating Matthew’s best friend Ben, after Matthew played matchmaker. What I found difficult was keeping track of what was happening with the pharmaceutical part of the plot, the problems with the drug and who had said what to whom about it. Although not completely technical, there were passages that I just ended up skimming through because I didn’t quite get what was happening.

What I enjoyed most about the book was the relationship that developed between Matthew, Danny and Isabelle. It was like watching a large slab of ice slowly melting, as Matthew found himself charmed by Isabelle’s sweetness and touched by Danny’s tender care of his sister. Danny has basically raised himself while his mother dissolved into a drug haze, and although he would have every reason to be untrustworthy, he isn’t. I kept waiting for the chapter where Matthew comes home and finds his apartment stripped of everything valuable, but fortunately that didn’t happen.

I’ve got a great bunch of links to pass along, this one is for author Lisa Tucker‘s website, a Publisher’s Weekly review of the book, the schedule for the book tour, and Lisa Tucker’s Amazon.com page. If you don’t mind reading the technical parts of this story, you’ll enjoy the characters in this book, and the way that so many different aspects of Modern Life are woven together. To answer the question “what is the Cure for Modern Life?”, the book seems to be suggesting that the cure is having people to love.