By Cindy Thomsen
James Patterson, MAā70, breathes rare air.
His books line the walls in airport shops. Theyāre tucked into beach bags amid the towels and sunscreen. Theyāre on sidewalk kiosks and bedside tables around the world.
In 2010 he sold more books than John Grisham, Stephen King and Danielle Steele combined. Those sales, $84 million worth, came from a combination of books written for adults, teens and preteens. In all, he had 20 titles on the year-end best-seller lists.
Pattersonās mega-success came with the creation of Alex Cross, a Washington, D.C., detective and psychologist who has been featured in more than 15 novels, including threeāKiss the Girls, Along Came a Spider and Alex Crossāthat were made into major motion pictures.
Today, however, Patterson is more thrilled to be writing about the lives and times of middle-school students rather than murderers, kidnappers and terrorists. Those books include the award-winning Maximum Ride, Daniel X and Witch & Wizard series for young adults.
“The kids’ books Iām writing today are actually the best that Iāve done and the most interesting,ā he says. āItās good to keep adults reading and enjoying it, but itās crucial to make readers out of kids.” In 2011, Patterson wrote a CNN.com editorial titled The average CNN.com editorial receives 500 to 600 recommends. Pattersonās garnered more than 73,000. He paid to have it run in USA Today, and it proved so popular there that the paper ran it two additional times at no charge.
āItās a very good piece,ā Patterson says. āItās a piece that strikes a chord with parents and teachers and librarians. When kids arenāt reading, adults feel guilty and want any kind of help they can get. This piece is useful and helps them get their kids reading.ā
CHECK THE ATTITUDE
As the father of a middle-school-aged son, Patterson knows that many boys are reluctant readers. The key, as he points out in the editorial, is to be concerned less about what theyāre reading.
āTeachers and school administrators might want to consider this,ā he wrote. āIn many schools thereās a tendency not to reward boys for reading books like Guinness World Records or Sports Illustrated Almanac or The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll. Too often, boy-appealing books are disproportionately overlooked on recommended reading lists.
āBig mistake. Tragic mistake. Avoidable mistake. Itās all about attitude. If your kidsā school library isnāt a boy magnet, the school probably needs to check its attitude.ā
āMy mother was a teacher and Iām sure she encouraged me to read, but I wasnāt a huge reader until after high school,ā says Patterson. āWhat discouraged me were the things I was asked to read. I was a very good student, but I wasnāt a big reader.ā
In fact, Patterson claims he didnāt become a serious reader until he started working at a mental hospital. The hospital had some well-known patients during his time there, including James Taylor and Ray Charles.
āI worked the night shift and just started reading like crazy,ā he says. āI was reading four or five books a week and it was all serious stuff, not the kind of junk I write.ā
His wish, though, is for children not to wait as long as he did to discover the joys of readingāand he sees middle school as the best time to hook a young reader. In fact, he believes those middle-school years are so crucial that heās written two childrenās books about that time: Middle School, the Worst Years of My Life (2011) and Middle School: Get Me Out of Here! (2012). He predicts the second one will be his top seller of all time. While Patterson is best known for his thrillers, he has no difficulty relating to children.
āI write a lot of different kinds of books. Iāve written love stories, one historical novel, and a couple of nonfiction,ā he says. āIf I feel an emotional connection to that kind of book, I can write it. Iām very comfortable with kid stuffāI know what itās like to be 13.ā
Pattersonās writing obviously resonates with children. In 2010 he won the Childrenās Book Councilās Author of the Year Award, which is voted on by children.
āI was nominated for the award, and my son, Jack, said, āDonāt get me wrong, Dad, I really like your books, but Rick Riordanās going to win,āā remembers Patterson, who lives with his family in Florida. āI took him and my wife to New York City, and I won! I held up the statue and said, āThis is for you, Jack.ā Itās nice that heāll always have that memory.ā
Patterson does believe some fundamental differences exist between yesterdayās children and todayās.
āI think we have to earn childrenās respect more todayāthat you donāt automatically have it because youāre a teacher or a parent,ā he says. āThey expect more, too. They think itās their birthright to have an iPod or iPad. They just assume itās part of the deal of being a kid.ā
In an effort to further facilitate childhood reading, Patterson created . The site offers detailed reading lists for children, lesson plans for teachers, and even a community page where members can post.
āBooks are the only place where you really can have a wide experience and learn different points of view about life,ā Patterson says. āYou can find out what people are really like and learn what theyāre really thinking. You learn compassion, and thatās not available on television.ā
Thereās also the possibility that childhood reading could germinate the seeds of a career. Patterson points out that many of todayās scientists first became interested in the field by reading science fiction. Science fiction, he says, opens minds to what could be possible.
āI think that in every state we should have a place where kids who are really interested in science can go and thereās no ceiling,ā Patterson says. āWe could have something right here at 91ĢĘ²®»¢ where kids could come in twice a week and just get their minds blown.ā
BUILDING BETTER READERS
Naturally, an author needs readers to be successful. Building better readers is a mission in which Patterson is wholeheartedly involved.
āI do a lot of things to try and get kids reading,ā Patterson says. āObviously, I think that turning out better teachers is one of those. Thatās why my family has scholarships at 91ĢĘ²®»¢ and at other places.āPatterson researches schools of education across the country and establishes scholarships at the best ones. The Patterson Scholars program was established at 91ĢĘ²®»¢ās of education and human development in 2009. Preference is given to students majoring in elementary or secondary education, and specific preference is reserved for students participating in educational community service. Nine students are currently in the program. Patterson also funds scholarships at Wisconsin, Tulane, Michigan State, Appalachian State, and at his undergraduate school, Manhattan College. He will add more schools in the near future.
āBy supporting future teachers Iām dealing with the possible,ā Patterson says. āWhen I talk to people involved in education, I find out what we can do to move the ball forward. We donāt have to score a touchdownāwe just have to move the ball forward.ā
While reading improvement is his primary goal, Patterson hopes that schools see the bigger picture and start teaching children to think on a deeper level.
āWhen you get into the habit of thinking deeper, you donāt just blurt out a quick response to a question or problem,ā he says. āThatās one of the big problems with kids and adults both today. They hear one little thing on TV and the polls go crazy. I think that in European countries, people are trained not to stop at the first impressionāthey take another step and look a little deeper.ā
CONFIDENCE IS KEY
A young author needs confidence, and one 91ĢĘ²®»¢ professor, Walter Sullivan, gave Patterson just that. Sullivan was a Southern literature expert who published criticism, novels and short stories.
āSullivan said to me, āYou can writeāyou can do this if you want to,āā Patterson says. āThat was extremely important to me because I thought it was presumptuous to think that I could write well and that I could even consider making a living doing it. It was a real turning point for me.ā
Patterson believes todayās professors can similarly inspire their students.
āWe need to come up with programs that are going to make the kids coming out of 91ĢĘ²®»¢ more effective and help them be leaders,ā he says. āA school can grow both the sense of community and individuality in its students. Schools like this need to be thinking about creating leadersāand not just leaders with big egos, but leaders with a sense of community.ā
Young readers also need to gain confidence in their abilities.
āIāll go into schools and start talking to kids about soccer,ā he says. āIāll say, āAre you better now than you were four years ago?ā and theyāll say, āYay, weāre better now!ā Iāll say OK, itās the same with reading. If you do more of it, even if itās reading comic books, youāll get better. It wonāt be so much of a struggle.ā
The bottom line for Patterson is that his childrenās books are his most gratifying work because of the potential for making a real difference.
āWe canāt solve the health care problem,ā he says. āWe canāt make Wall Street more moral or ethical. But we can, most of the time, affect reading in our homes and in our towns. Weāre not going to solve every problem, but we can almost always make a 100 percent improvement.ā