A few years ago, I realized my son, Jack, didn't exactly love books. We'd always read to him as a baby, and he was beginning to read for school. When he got home, him going to the shelf and picking up a book was about as likely as his pulling out a notebook and solving quantum physics problems. Actually, the latter was more likely. He's a smart kid.
So Sue and I took it on ourselves to fix the problem if we could.
Starting that summer, and every summer since, we went out and found books that I was pretty sure he'd not just read, but would love to read. That was a big part of the inspiration for READKIDDOREAD.
But, more than that, the experience with Jack got me writing books that I hoped he and other kids would love to read. Before then, I'd always written books just for grown-ups.
In fact, one of my proudest moments as a writer was when I passed him the manuscript of The Dangerous Days of Daniel X. Not only did he like it, he told me it was his favorite.
Anyhow, the Daniel X series, the Maximum Ride series, and the Witch & Wizard series were written for just this purpose. Jack got me writing books that I thought other kids would love. To contribute a few books that hopefully, will make kids readers for life.
But don't take my word for it. Read some of the feedback these books have gotten from parents, grandparents, teachers, librarians, and even critics.
I hope you and your young readers enjoy them, too.
Middle School doesn't begin well for Rafe Khatchadorian. Between run-ins with the school bully, Miller "The Killer" and a book of rules that the school actually takes seriously, to say Rafe is disillusioned with the educational system would be understatement. And so it's totally understandable when his best friend, Leonardo, suggests that Rafe set out to break every rule in the book.
After sixth grade, the very worst year of his life, Rafe Khatchadorian thinks he has it made in seventh grade. He's been accepted to art school in the big city and imagines a math-and-history-free fun zone.Wrong! It's more competitive than Rafe ever expected, and to score big in class, he needs to find a way to turn his boring life into the inspiration for a work of art. His method? Operation: Get a Life!
Jamie Grimm is a middle schooler on a mission: he wants to become the world's greatest standup comedian—even if he doesn't have a lot to laugh about these days. He's new in town and stuck living with his aunt, uncle, and their evil son Stevie, a bully who doesn't let Jamie's wheelchair stop him from messing with Jamie as much as possible. But Jamie doesn't let his situation get him down. He practices the craft of stand-up every day on friends, family, and the willing customers at his Uncle Frankie's diner. When Uncle Frankie mentions a contest called The Planet's Funniest Kid Comic, Jamie knows he has to enter. But are the judges only rewarding him out of pity because of his wheelchair, like Stevie suggests? Will Jamie ever share the secret of his troubled past instead of hiding behind his comedy act?
Daniel X was born with the greatest superpower of all, the power to create. Whatever he imagines, his mind can bring to life. In the first book of the Daniel X series, Daniel discoverers he is the protector of Earth, the Alien Hunter, and that he is faced with a mission of other worldly proportions. He must defend Earth from a list of enemies each more terrible than the next, and along the way, avenge his parents murder.
A lone outlaw arrives in the beautiful city of Holliswood with a gruesome goal. He'll create chaos-and film the pandemonium for an audience back home. The destiny of a city and its inhabitants lies in Daniel X's hands. But this time, Daniel has created a secret weapon of his own. With the help of an all-star team, Daniel and his friends must face a villain with a taste for the kind of terror that usually lies safely in the movies.
Daniel X's hunt to eliminate each and every intergalactic criminal on Earth is always relentless, but this time, it's getting personal. Number Three on the List of Alien Outlaws takes the form of raging, soul-possessing fire. And fire transports Daniel back to the most traumatic event of his life-the death of his parents. In the face of his "kryptonite", Daniel struggles with his extraordinary powers like never before, and more than ever is at stake: his best friends are in grave peril. The only way to save them is to travel back--through a hole in time--to the demon's arrival during the Dark Ages.
When Daniel X discovers that a duo of evil extraterrestrials is plotting to control kids around the world through videogames, he's determined to take them both out of commission. This pair of wicked game masters wants to destroy the human race by turning brainwashed videogamers into an unstoppable army of doom! They're also running an endangered species hunting club on the side, and their next target is none other than Daniel. He'll have no choice but to turn to the aliens' rebellious son who needs help to stand up to his malicious parents. But can Daniel trust the progeny of this treacherous twosome? Or will it be "Game Over" for the alien hunter?
In the fifth installment of James Patterson's action-packed Daniel X series, Daniel must now face an alien whose origins appear nearer to the depths of Hell than the outer reaches of the galaxy. Number Two is an unstoppable criminal that's slowly been amassing an underground army of disgusting, disgruntled, and dangerous aliens to help him enslave Earth's population. And it's all in preparation for the arrival of Number One, the most powerful alien in the universe and Daniel's arch-nemesis.
To Daniel's horror, thousands of humans defect to the alien's side, making the odds of success that much more impossible. But for the first time in his life, Daniel isn't alone in his fight. He's connected with several military and intelligence groups—including the daughter of a prominent FBI agent--and is prepared to lead the ultimate showdown against the evil that has plagued planet Earth for so long. Readers, beware—and be prepared for a truly epic battle that evokes the ancient prophecies of Armageddon!
'The Flock', Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel are pretty normal kids--except that they're 98 percent human, 2 percent bird. And they were raised in a lab by evil scientists. And they can fly. The Angel Experiment is the first book in the Maximum Ride series in which five average kids with extraordinary powers begin their quest to protect themselves from evil mutants, infiltrate a secret facility, and while they're at it, save the world.
The adventures of James Patterson's six flying bird-kids, Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel, continue in the heart-stopping second book of the Maximum Ride series. Max is convinced a microchip in her arm is leading horrible wolf-like Erasers to find and ambush them at any moment. And meanwhile, The Flock will stop at nothing to solve the mystery of where they came from, and find out who their parents really are.
The time has come for The Flock to face their ultimate enemy and discover their purpose: to defeat the takeover of 'Re-Evolution', a terrible experiment to create a genetically modified superior race. And to terminate anyone who is left behind. The Flock has always worked together like a family. But how can they save the world when they are ripped apart and end up halfway around the world from each other, barely surviving?
First they were watched. Then they were threatened. And now they've been given a Final Warning. In the fourth installment of the hit Maximum Ride series, The Flock befriends and aids a group of environmental scientists studying global warming--in the coldest place on the planet, Antarctica. But with the powers they wield, even the ends of the earth aren't safe for six extraordinary flying kids.
When Earth faced destruction, The Flock helped save it. But now, nowhere is safe. Millions of fish are dying off Hawaii's coast and someone-or something-is destroying hundreds of ships. The Flock has no choice but to go deep into the murky seas to uncover the truth. And to make matters worse, a deadly assassin is watching their every move. Can The Flock defend themselves from an approaching army and save the world from calamity? The battle for survival rages on.
"Fang will be the first to die." Maximum Ride is used to living desperately on the run from evil forces sabotaging her quest to save the world--but nothing has ever come as close to destroying her as this horrifying prophetic message. Fang is Max's best friend, her soul mate, her partner in the leadership of her flock of winged children. A life without Fang is a life unimaginable.
Evil scientists are still trying to convince Max that she needs to save the world, this time by providing the genetic link in speeding up the pace of evolution. Fang travels the country collecting his own gang of evolved humans, but the two separate flocks must unite to defeat a frightening doomsday cult whose motto is Save the Planet: Kill the Humans. And this time, the true heroine, for once, might just be little Angel.
One last chance...
for Max, Fang, and Dylan...
before it all ends.Are you ready for the final chapter? Are you ready for the ultimate flight? Because THIS IS IT. One last incredible, explosive adventure with an astonishing ending that no one could have seen coming.
Four years in the making, James Patterson has written the adventure series of a lifetime. Imagine, one day you wake up and the world around you-life as you know it and everything you love-has changed in an instant. Whit and Wisty live in a world beyond imagination, where magic is possible and the sinister is real. Whit and Wisty are sister and brother, Witch and Wizard.
Now part of a hidden community of teens like themselves, Whit and Wisty have established themselves as leaders of the Resistance, willing to sacrifice anything to save kids kidnapped and brutally imprisoned by the New Order. But the One has other plans in store for them: He needs Wisty, for she is "The One Who Has the Gift." While trying to figure out what that means, Whit and Wisty's suspenseful adventures through Overworld and Shadowland lead to a jaw-dropping climax and conclusion.
Whit and Wisty Allgood have sacrificed everything to lead the resistance against the merciless totalitarian regime that governs their world. Its supreme leader, The One Who Is The One, has banned everything they hold dear: books, music, art, and imagination. But the growing strength of the siblings' magic hasn't been enough to stop the One's evil rampage, and now he's executed the only family they had left.
Wisty knows that the time has finally come for her to face The One. But her fight and her fire only channel more power to this already invincible being. How can she and Whit possibly prepare for their imminent showdown with the ruthless villain that devastated their world-before he can truly become all-powerful?
In this stunning third installment of the epic Witch & Wizard series, the stakes have never been higher—and the consequences will change everything.
Whit and Wisty Allgood have finally triumphed over the evil that has long overshadowed their world with their defeat of The One Who Is The One. Now they move on to their next mission: becoming members of a governing Council that will return the Overworld to a place of creativity, magic, and freedom from persecution.
But it isn't long before the city is threatened from inside and out. The adults on the Council want to control the use of magic in the city, and a fearsome Wizard King threatens war. As Wisty begins a new relationship with an intense and mysterious boy and the pressures of leading the city bear down on them, Whit and Wisty find themselves growing apart. Will they be able to come together to fight the mounting threats that could return their world to the hands of a tyrant?
James Patterson delivers what the fans have been asking for—the story of what happens next—with an epic fourth installment about the heroic teen witch and wizard that have captured our imaginations.
James Patterson returns to the genre that made him famous with a thrilling teen detective series about the mysterious and magnificently wealthy Angel family...and the dark secrets they're keeping from one another.
On the night Malcolm and Maud Angel are murdered, Tandy Angel knows just three things: 1) She was the last person to see her parents alive. 2) The police have no suspects besides Tandy and her three siblings. 3) She can't trust anyone—maybe not even herself. Having grown up under Malcolm and Maud's intense perfectionist demands, no child comes away undamaged. Tandy decides that she will have to clear the family name, but digging deeper into her powerful parents' affairs is a dangerous-and revealing-game. Who knows what the Angels are truly capable of?