[.ca] Maximum Ride (ISBN 0755321952)

Modern Fantasy:
I absolutly love Maximum Ride. It is my all time favorite. I love Max's sarcasme and how she has feelings she refuses to admit! This book is like a ride that just gets better and faster every second. A real accomplishement for James Patterson.

One of his best!:
I have read MANY of James Patterson's books and i am a huge fan of his style of writing, this book however just became my all-time favorite! I LOVED the way he wrote this story and the characters that he developed, i was enjoying the book so much that i did not want it to end and therefore would only read two or three pages a night. I am not normally one to like a sci-fi twist on things, but he so beautifully created and molded this story that to me it felt completely believable and possible. I even found myself chuckling out loud on the bus during certain parts and obviously recieved a few inquiring looks as a result. This book is heartfelt and touching with light and enjoyable humor dispersed throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and i was even more excited to find that there is a sequal! Mr. Patterson said this was one of his favorite books to write and it has definitely become one of my favorite books to read!

One of the Best Books I've Ever Read:
As a teenager, I always look for a book that has a bit of everything: romance(just a bit), action, adventure, suspense, and mystery. And Maximum Ride had everything I was looking for, without being too overwhelming. In summary, the story is about a group of six kids who can fly, and all have amazing abilities that they discover. There's Max, fourteen, the oldest, and the leader,Fang, only four months younger, Iggy, six months younger, and also fourteen, and then there's Nudge, eleven, Gazzy, who's eight, and Angel, who's only six. Then Angel is kidnapped, and their once-peaceful world is turned upside down- again. So Max and the rest of the "Flock" must go and rescue her from the horrible place they had once fled...facing questions like: Will I survive to see tommorow? Will I ever be normal? What the heck is NORMAL like? James Patterson weaves a splendid tale of growing up and what family really means, and leaves a satisfying ending open for the next book. It's full of wit, humour, and lots of kick-butt action. I'd recommend this book for ages eleven and up.

Huh?:
James Patterson enters the young adult fiction arena with a whimper, with this far-fetched sci-fi saga which borrows heavily from the recycle bin of Dean Koontz. The titular character (Yep, "Maximum Ride" is a character in the book) is the leader of a group of six children who call themselves "The Flock". Each child has been subjected to genetic experimentation at a place called "The School", where evil scientists have "improved" them with avian DNA. This has resulted in each child growing a pair of wings large enough to take flight, as well as a number of other "side effects" which the children are now discovering. Max is fourteen years old, and can fly at supersonic speed using her thirteen foot wingspan. Amazingly, she can fold away her wings somewhere in the framework of her 5' 8" body so that she appears to the world as a normal teenaged girl wearing a hoodie. Fang is the tall, dark and handsome one who is amazingly strong and resilient. Iggy is blind, due to the scientists' failed attempts to improve his night vision. His talents include making explosive devices and cooking. His other senses have been sharpened to compensate for his lack of vision. Nudge is the talkative one, and also a computer hacker with developing psychic powers. The Gasman a.k.a. Gazzy is a flatulent eight year old, best friend and co-conspirator to Iggy and the biological brother of Angel. Angel is the baby at age six, with eight foot wide white wings. She can read and manipulate people's minds, and we learn that she can also breathe underwater using invisible gills. The school has also produced another species called "The Erasers", who are children who have been "enhanced" with wolf DNA. This is a handsome species, until they start morphing into super strong werewolf-like beings. The Erasers are the security force for The School and are licensed to kill if necessary. Anyway, after you've swallowed all the above, I won't burden you much longer except to say that Max and rest of the Flock originally escaped The School thanks to a scientist named Jeb, who set them up with a safe house and lived with them for a while before he disappeared. Their happy home is thrown into disarray when Angel is kidnapped by the Erasers, and the Flock heads out into the world on a search and recovery mission. This leads to a quest for the meaning of life, and ultimately to New York City, where Max begins hearing voices. Having plowed through more than 450 pages of this kind of fluff, the reader should logically expect a conclusion, but Patterson fails to deliver even this, leaving ends dangling untidily all over the place, with no ending in sight. I had a hard time with this one, and if your teenager has an enquiring mind I'd advise them to look elsewhere for their Sci-Fi / Fantasy needs. Amanda Richards

Amazing book...Can't Wait for the Sequel:
This book is so amazing. It is jam-packed with action, adventure, even some comical parts. It is based on a group of 6 hybrid kids, led by 14 year old Maximum Ride. After an attack by wolfmen, they are thrown into the adventure of a lifetime to get back a loved one who was taken away. They are all led to the palce they hate the most, the School. This is where they were turned into the mutants that they are, 98% human, 2% avian. What a big difference that 2% can make!! This book is superbly written, and is a very entertaining novel, for any ages, not jsut teens. I would recommend it to anyone...If you're reasding this, then go out and buy it!