Outside the Box (Paperback)

by Dan Allosso (Author)
Key Phrases: wing chun, Dan Allosso, Watch List, Nate Taggart (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Teenager Reid Anderson knows there’s something wrong with society, otherwise he wouldn’t feel so alienated. He has a problem with authority but can’t decide: “am I antisocial or does society suck?” So he goes through life pretending he doesn’t care.

A new Wii console and simulation game show up in his rec room, and Reid is just bored enough to try them out. When a demon from inside the game threatens him in reality, Reid is plunged into a world of troubled teens he didn’t know existed. The demon’s challenge takes him on a journey of discovery. Suddenly exposed to other outsiders, Reid learns to question authority and find his own answers. He finds true friends among those labeled defective and cast aside by society—and together, they learn to fight for themselves.

Set against a background of video games, teen mental illness, and anticonsumer counterculture; told through the eyes of Reid and his friends, Outside the Box challenges the safe, orthodox picture of the world championed in many popular teen novels.

About the Author
Dan Allosso is currently writing a sequel to this story, called Off the Grid, and a novel of Latin America, called Agua. Find out more at www.stayoutsidethebox.com.

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 146 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (May 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595442951
• ISBN-13: 978-0595442959
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #80,201 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #25 in	Books > Children's Books > Sports & Activities > Games > Fiction
  #32 in	Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Social Issues > Violence > Fiction
  #39 in	Books > Teens > Social Issues > Violence

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a Young Adult novel. Ages 12-19., June 5, 2007

By	Dan Allosso "parent and part-time author" (in transit) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm the author of this book. There was an error in the description. This is a Young Adult novel, written for ages 12-19. Don't be fooled by the 9-12 age range in the description. It's a story about and primarily for teens (although everybody's welcome to read it, of course).

I had to give it a 5 (what would you have done?). But by way of justification, Terry Davis (bestselling author of Vision Quest and other Young Adult novels) loved it. Said it was "the best book you won't see in a bookstore this year!" For more info, check out [..] thanks!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Find the Messages!, June 12, 2007

By	P. M. Grella "Larry's Mom" (MA, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just finished Outside the Box and can't wait for the next one. Lots of messages buried in that little book. Should be "required reading" for school kids ... better yet, it should be what happens to all the school kids. Being "looked after" by someone who really cares what happens to them. Acknowledging that "authorities" don't always know what they are talking about or what they are doing; and that young people need to "follow their own inner voice" and that that's ok.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Layered, imaginative page-turner, October 20, 2007

By	R. Renner "Collingswood Book Festival" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Is your Wii haunted?" Enticing surprises in a souped-up video game draw the reader into the isolated world of bored teenager Reid Anderson, who is just about ready to accept that he has no genuine friends, and that a connection with his parents may never happen. A startling email leads him to like-minded teens in a world hidden from "normal" kids, condoned by complicit adults, and ignored by everyone else. Reid learns to question what is normal. With each mysterious upgrade of his new technology, he is upgraded too. He develops real friendships and a new sense of purpose. A warning to tender-eared teens and protective parents in denial: the players in this imaginative, well-written page-turner for young adults are believable sixteen year-olds who use realistic dialogue. Early in the book, I considered that we might have a new call for youth uprising on our hands. However, as the plot complication accelerated toward a climax, another message bloomed: adults need to do a better job listening to our kids. Outside the Box is an insightful, important book. I highly recommend it to older teens and all adults, and I look forward to the sequel.