Ali Cross: 1

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There are many gangs in their area and tensions are high between them and the police. This tension steps up a notch when a gang member is shot by an officer. At school, Ali faces many in his class who side with the people, that the police are never there when needed and shoot first when they arrive. There is merit to the concern, though Ali does not want every police officer whitewashed with this stereotype. As he tries to have himself heard, Ali becomes the scapegoat for the police, with many feeling he is only spouting what his father professes at home. Ali Cross has always looked up to his father, former detective and FBI agent Alex Cross. While solving some of the nation's most challenging crimes, his father always kept his head and did the right thing. Can Ali have the same strength and resolve? Patterson is passionate about children’s literacy, driven by the firm belief that “There’s no such thing as a kid who hates reading. There are kids who love reading, and kids who are reading the wrong books”. With a detective for a dad and knowing other officers, Ali struggles with all of the anger against the police force, but he knows the community is right too, in many situations.

Ali Cross: The Secret Detective - Goodreads Ali Cross: The Secret Detective - Goodreads

Alex’s son Ali may not be the most athletic in the family, but he is keen to follow in his Dad’s footsteps as a detective. A spotlight hit my eyes then, and another camera popped up, pointing right at me and my sister. That’s when I heard Jannie let out a sob. And even though I’m the youngest, I wasn’t going to let them do that to her. Or to anyone in my family. Ali has helped to solve two big cases and he knows he has what it takes to follow in the footsteps of his famous father, Alex Cross. Gabe said, "I'm glad you didn't give up on me." I was standing there looking at Gabe grateful he was fine. This was a good mystery and with Big Alex and Little Ali and the other family members it made for quite a delightful story. Recommend.

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I thought Father Bernadin might cut me off right there, but he didn’t. Everyone just waited, so I kept going.

Ali Cross Series by James Patterson - Goodreads

This third book in the Ali Cross series is not really a mystery novel. It still has some excitement, but most of this book focuses on the age-old debate about policing. Are the police abusing their powers, and if so, is it in epidemic proportions? I get that this is probably an important theme for a young adult audience to start thinking about, but this is meant to be a mystery series. I think less preaching, and more of a mystery, would be better.When he finally gets to have his say, he knows this is his chance to try and heal at least a tiny bit of the hurt in his neighbourhood. I didn’t know if this was going to help, but I figured it couldn’t hurt. How often do you get the chance to send four hundred prayers someone’s way, all at once? My voice was kind of shaky, but I just kept talking. I recently finished James Patterson’s latest Alex Cross novel, which saw an increase in Ali’s presence. It felt fitting to turn to this shorter piece to give Ali his time in the spotlight and to see if younger readers were getting the same intensity in their novels related to this DC family. Patterson does well to pull a new set of Cross fans in, setting a mystery with Ali in the middle. Ali Cross is a middle-schooler who has all the tools to live a 21st century life, including an online presence that keeps him in touch with his friends. However, he has Cross blood in his veins and if he is not going to excel in athletics like his siblings, he might as well take up sleuthing. The reader can see this throughout this piece, as Ali Cross comes into his own. He loves a good mystery and has the empathy to make his work mean something. Other characters help pave the way to a successful story, including Alex Cross, which enriches the entire reading experience. While it is hard to place this on the Alex Cross timeline of books, there is surely a little character development for Alex and Ali, though it might be in a vacuum and not entirely in line with the chronology of the larger Cross series (if that makes sense as I pen it now). The story was strong and helped introduce the reader to Ali Cross in such a way that readers will want to know more. With some eerie goings-on in the Alex Cross series and a few hints that Ali Cross has not tripped on his only mystery, Patterson keeps readers of all ages wondering what will come next in the Cross saga and how long until Ali takes over the spotlight, letting Alex relax and fade into the role of advisor, rather than ‘feet on the ground’ detective.