Patterson, James.
THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT (MAXIMUM RIDE)
Boston : Little, Brown, 2005
IL YA
ISBN 031615556X

(3 booktalks)

Maximum Ride looks like an average 14 year old girl ­ only she has wings and can fly.  She and 5 other bird kids have escaped from an evil laboratory in Death Valley, California, that is creating humans that are part animals.  For most of their lives they lived in cages and had horrible experiments performed on them.  Now they are free but constantly on the run from Erasers, men from the lab who can morph into wolf-like beings.  Max and her friends need to get to New York, where an institute supposedly keeps files that contain answers about where they came from, if they have parents, and why they have been turned in to bird people.  But first they have to try to rescue Angel, who is only six years old and the youngest of their group.  The Erasers have kidnapped her and brought her back to the laboratory, the one place in the world Max and her friends never wanted to see again.  (Davinna Artibey, Denver Center for International Studies, DPS, CO)

Booktalk #2

"Do not put this book down. I’m dead serious - your life could depend on it. I’m risking everything by telling you---but you need to know."

Six experimental beings, just kids really, escape from The School, where they were created, 98% human and 2% bird. Their leader, Max, is only 14 years old. They are hunted by the Erasers, wicked wolflike creatures with a taste for flying humans. Their mission is to rescue Angel from these malicious mutants...and save the world.

This thriller for teens is the first of a series by James Patterson, and was inspired by his adult novels When the Wind Blows and The Lake House.

We were out picking strawberries, all six of us, the entire family. Why? Because Angel wanted to and she was so young and cute that none of us could often refuse her. Then Angel screamed and Erasers were dropping out of the sky in all of their wolfishness. I launched myself at one as did the rest of the flock. But, there were too many of them. Three of them bundled Angel into a sack as two held me down and one leaned over me.

"Max," he said. He told me how horrible I looked and how I always acted so stuffed up and superior and didn’t I recognize him? Then I realized, it was Ari, Jeb’s son. He'd only be about 7 years old. And he'd been turned into an Erasure!? I couldn't believe it. Then, I blacked out.

A few minutes later I came to. Iggy was cocking his head in a particular way, hearing as only a blind person could. It was an engine, the sound of a black Humvee below a dropoff. The Humvee that was taking Angel away from us. I ran to the edge and jumped into space, followed by the remaining four of the group. As I dropped, I unfurled my wings and began to fly.   (Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award Nominees 2007-2008)

Booktalk #3

“Warning, if you dare to read this story you will become part of the experiment.  I know that sounds a little mysterious- but it’s all I can say right now,” says Maximum, the main character in James Patterson’s Maximum Ride series.
Over the summer I read many books. My favorite was the  Maximum Ride series! There are five books and they all keep you on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next.  It’s a difficult read for some people, but others can breeze right through it with no problem!
This book is about Max and her flock. Yes you heard me right her flock, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel. They are all part bird and each has a unique quality about them! You will learn those throughout the series. How would you feel if you were escaping death everyday? That’s basically there lives. Well that and helping Max with her big assignment. Plus they have to put all the pieces together to try and figure out the big picture. It is a fun action packed read for pretty decent readers! Although there is some romance in it it’s nothing like Twilight! If you didn't figure it out the main character Max is a girl. So sorry but I think this book is more for girls! To be honest it didn't sound all that great when I first heard of it. I was wrong. it was better then any other book I ever read! So please be smart and give it a chance.  (Alyssa P. , student)