woot! finished reading The Dangerous Days of Daniel X with boy2001 just now.  Let me start off by saying, I LOVE the idea and premise of this book!  Getting boys to read is not the easiest thing to do, stories are often too frilly or just “boring” to them, getting the right mix of substance and adventure is not an easy task.

Boy2001 had a strong reaction as soon as he saw the book, it looks grown up, no cartoony characters on the cover, it looks like a man-book which he loved.  I sent him in his room to start reading and planned to read it at night while he slept so we could discuss.  He wasn’t gone two minutes when he came back and told me he didn’t want to read it.  I was perplexed and asked him why and he explained that the parents are killed.

Keep in mind he’s never flat out refused to read something, so I told him to put it down and I’ll read it to him a little later.  He again had a strong reaction to the parents being killed (chapter 1) but as the pages turned he slowly became more interested.

The unbelievable aliens were a special interest to boy2001 and of course the made up words like “drangs” which means a friendship bond. He became engrossed in battling aliens and talk of mastodons and ticks.  On top of that, which boy doesn’t dream of having secret abilities?

From a mom’s point of view, it was a worthwhile read for boy2001.  I had initially planned on him reading this story alone but there are so many themes that require discussion and his reluctance to explore this big boy book on his own required me to read aloud.  I did like that this character was able to survive the death of his parents, although we never wish it, things do happen.  My son now knows that he can handle anything, even losing us! 

It’s a quick enough read but boy2001 wanted to stop and talk about things so it did take us a week of evenings to get through. I’m keeping it on his bookshelf in the closest for another read when he’s older.  Let me know your thoughts…

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge available @ Amazon

Described as “Spider-Man meets Men in Black in this heart-stopping novel from James Patterson, author of the bestselling books Maximum Ride and When the Wind Blows.  Read an interview on Borders

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I’m just now getting the newsflash that June is Junie B. Jones month.  After a full school year of seeing these books in boy2001′s hand I’ve come to accept the fact that I may not always understand his reading choices. 

Maybe I should even care if it motivates him to get through a chapter book in a few hours! He thinks they’re funny…  what do you think, is any reading good reading? 

There are some cute activities on Junie’s page.

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Boy2001 was beyond thrilled when I told him he’d be reviewing GoPets Vacation Island! on his Nintendo DS!  I guess most kids would be, right? on top of a new game he got extra time to play, usually he doesn’t get to play during the week unless there’s a day off from school.  It was a real treat. 

 At first he was totally lost with the game.  It took him about an hour to figure out what he needed to do and the concept of taking care of the pet.  He likened Vacation Island! to his Tamagochi (which he still loves off and on).  He understood the concept of collecting shells and being able to buy stuff for his pets.  He also understood the social aspect of adding friends a la Facebook, Mashable, Gather which really surprised me, guess he’s been observing more than I thought!  There is a wireless feature to the game which we didn’t have time to get into, can you believe he’s still got a week of school because of all the snow days?!

From a mom’s perspective, I like the fact that there are some little games that keep him busy for just a few minutes at a time.  I also like the idea of taking care of something and even considering the financial aspects of keeping a pet (spending shells).  Boy2001′s favorite part is cooking the food at the amusement area.  Kids choose a recipe, then they are given a virtual stovetop and wok, they have to follow the recipe as it appears on the screen.  Controlling the flame, slicing and dicing the food images and adding them to the wok with condiments but the most important part — the stirring, he really enjoyed doing that so the food wouldn’t burn (a common complaint when mommy cooks!)

He really enjoyed reviewing GoPets Vacation Island! it was a very positive experience.  The only bad thing he did mention was that he didn’t like the bow on his pets tail because it looked too girly.  I didn’t investigate how to get it off but I’m sure it can so I’m thinking it’s just slightly over his head age wise… Something tells me he’s going to get lots of summer vacay time with the GoPets and be a pro by the time school’s back in session!

*I will provide an update in a few days about the wireless feature* with a link here.

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