Thank you so much for filling the need for interesting, engaging, wholesome novels for boys. You have blessed our household more than you will ever know. Our son, who struggled so much when it came to reading, had the door flung open with your novels. He couldn't put them down. He would even sneak a flashlight to bed and read under the covers. He has become such an avid reader that no one believes me when I tell them how hard reading used to be for him. So again, I encourage you to continue in your writing.
The Accidental Adventures, A New Middle Grade Series
ROCKFORD, IL., September 13, 2016 / Author Max Elliot Anderson has published a new adventure series. “The Accidental Adventures of Kurt Benson and his friends Riley and Jordan,” which includes The Cat Burglars, Funny Money Mystery, The Secret of Grandmother’s Grandfather Clock, Summer Camp Trouble, Danger Mountain, and Shadow of the Fat Man.
This series joins his previous works, “The Sam Cooper Adventure Series,” and several other stand-alone adventures and mysteries for young readers.
“Kurt Benson and his friends don’t go out looking for trouble,” Anderson says, “trouble just seems to find them.”
“These books are written in the manner of a good, old-fashioned Hardy Boys - style mystery,” writes a reviewer in CBA Marketplace. Reviewer Heather Hunt wrote, “This is Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn if they lived in modern American suburbia.” These comparisons are echoed by numerous other readers and reviewers who also include references to Nancy Drew, Tom Swift, and adventure author Jack London.
“Those comments interest me,” Anderson said, “because I grew up hating to read.”
Max Elliot Anderson has pursued a career of film, video, and television commercial production. “I try to bring that same heart-pounding excitement, adventure, and mystery to the pages of my books,” Anderson said.
Author Jerry B. Jenkins reports, “Max Elliot Anderson brings a lifetime of dramatic film and video production to the pages of his action adventures and mysteries.” And author Bill Myers adds, “Max's Adventures are like good, family movies . . . as an ordinary kid finds himself in exciting and extra-ordinary adventures!”
This comment, from a dad, probably best sums up the reactions to Anderson’s books from teachers, parents, grandparents, and librarians. “The final lights out came at 9:30 pm. Our son complied, shut the lights out, and ‘went to bed.’ It was later when we found out he had grabbed his flashlight and, under the covers, finished reading your book that night. What can a parent say to that kind of behavior? After searching for interesting books for him to read, we finally found books he couldn't put down.”
“Let’s grow the next generation of readers together,” Anderson said. “After all, readers are the leaders others follow.”
The Accidental Adventure Series is due to be released in time for Christmas. These books, too, will carry the $5.99 and $2.99prices. This series had been expected earlier, but the publishing company was recently sold, causing a delay.
Accidental Adventures VIDEO
The Cat Burglars
Funny Money Mystery
The Secret of Grandmother’s
Grandfather Clock
Summer Camp Trouble
Danger Mountain
Shadow of the Fat Man
Prices are $5.99 in print and $2.99 in Ebook
Do you have a Middle Grade Reader 8 - 13 in your home, family, classroom, or circle of friends? Make sure they have the link to this blog for future updates and information. http://booksandboys.blogspot.com
When The Lights Go Out was written for the 10th anniversary of 9/11 so our kids will never forget its importance. Many middle grade readers are too young to remember anything about 9/11 except for what they see on TV. This exciting, heart-pounding action-adventure story can help.
When the Lights go Out
Peyton Aldrich has just moved to a new army base with his parents and younger sister. He doesn’t understand why his father has been sent to such a rundown place in the middle of nowhere. After all, his father was a colonel, with top security clearance, who completed the elite Ranger school. And his training had been in Army Intelligence. Yet, here they were.
Peyton was never allowed to ask his father anything about what he did in the army. Nor was he allowed to ever get in the way. There were many secrets that his dad couldn’t even tell his own family.
Peyton idolized his father. One day, he hoped to grow up to be just like him. His father had told him that the army may not be for everyone, but after what happened on 9/11, somebody had to help keep the country safe.
Peyton finds two friends. Gill is the son of the base’s motor pool sergeant, and Dave’s father is the base chaplain. Together they decide to train like Rangers, and search for some kind of mission they could do. Little did they know that a mission was about to put the boys right in the crosshairs of a dangerous terrorist plot, when a secret weapon would be delivered to the base on its way across the country.
There was no way Peyton could tell his father what he knew. After all, it could cost him his job. Peyton, Gill, and Dave have to take matters into their own hands, and they do.
Will the terrorists find out who is trying to expose their evil plan? Will the boys be able to stop them? And what will happen to Peyton’s father when the general finds out what the boys did?
“When the Lights go Out.” A story for kids, and their parents, so we never forget 9/11.
Some dates burn deeply into our collective memory forever. I will never forget where I was and what I was doing on September 11, 2001. You probably know the same. Your children, quite possibly, were not yet born before 9/11, and you will have to explain that famous date to them at an appropriate time. They need your explanation of this shocking and tragic even in America.
Max Elliot Anderson has dedicated his latest adventure fiction, When the Lights Go Out (Comfort Publishing, 2012), to “the memory of 9/11 and the people who lost their lives that day, so we never forget.” Anderson has written numerous adventure books geared for eight-to thirteen-year-old boys.
Peyton Aldrich, the central character, is the son of a US Army colonel who specializes in intelligence. Colonel Aldrich’s top-secret work leaves young Peyton curious yet proud of his father who was recently stationed at a new army base in the middle of nowhere along with his family. The colonel has an important job protecting the country from terrorists. When Peyton and his friends accidentally discover a dangerous plot on the base, they determine to stop it. Will the terrorists catch them? What will happen if the evil plan succeeds? This fast-paced story lives up to Anderson’s previous books. It will hold young readers’ attention right up to the surprise ending.
"My 12 yo son has read this three times... My 10 yo son was finally able to get it away from him to read it himself. He declared it the best book ever! :) Thank you!"
I want to make sure you are aware of a book, When The Lights Go Out, especially with what is now in the news daily about terrorist threats. This is an adventure / mystery for readers 8 - 13 with a terrorist plot.
In the story, the father of the main character is able to tell his kids why he joined the army instead of going into business. He says, "After what happened on 9/11, somebody had to help keep the country safe." This opens a short discussion with his two children in which he briefly recounts the events of that day.
I found, while speaking in schools, that many children today know little or nothing about 9/11 or why it's important to them. When The Lights Go Out will help teachers, librarians, grandparents, and parents with this issue.
Students don’t know much about it and it isn’t an important part of the curriculum. There may be pockets of areas where this isn’t true, but I’m not aware of those.
On a recent national news program, I saw some man-on-the-street interviews of young people in their late teens and early twenties. A few could explain what took place on 9/11, but sadly, most had no idea.
Author Max Elliot Anderson has published his latest children’s adventure, This Property is Condemned. This is book #4 in the new Sam Cooper Adventure Series from Elk Lake Publishing. Earlier titles in the Sam Cooper Series include Lost Island Smugglers, Captain Jack’s Treasure, and River Rampage.
“A traditional series is a departure for my writing,” Anderson said, “because all of my previous books have had completely different characters and settings.” Other titles to be released in this series include At The Buzzer and Ghosts in The Old Attic.
A sign outside the old Remmington Mansion read, “This Property is Condemned.” Sam Cooper couldn’t figure out exactly what that meant. Even after his father explained it, he became more puzzled than ever. So, along with his friends, Tony and Tyler, he set out to solve the mystery.
At first, Sam thought the spooky-looking place was abandoned. But, when the boys went to investigate, a curtain moved, and they discovered old Mrs. Remmington still lived in the crumbling house.
Sam was the kind of person who would try to right any wrong, or help anyone who was in trouble. And Mrs. Remmington was in a lot of it.
So, he organized the whole town to go out and fix the place up like new. But that’s when his problems really began.
Why did those men try to scare the old woman into moving? And, why were they threatening Sam and his friends?
No matter what it took, Sam was determined to find out.
This Property is Condemned is a story with danger, excitement, and heart-pounding action for readers 8 - 13.
Author Bill Myers reports, "Sam Cooper Adventures are like good, family movies . . . as an ordinary kid finds himself in exciting and extra-ordinary adventures!"
And author Jerry B. Jenkins adds, "Max Elliot Anderson brings a lifetime of dramatic film and video production to the pages of his action adventures and mysteries."
Young readers report that reading one of Anderson’s action-adventures or mysteries is like being in an exciting or scary movie. His Books for Boys blog often ranks in the top ten in Google searches. http://booksandboys.blogspot.com
Using his extensive experience in dramatic film, video, and TV commercial production, Max Elliot Anderson brings that same heart-pounding, visual excitement to his middle grade adventures & mysteries for readers 8 and up
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