“Maximum Ride: Schools out-Forever” by James Patterson is a book about a group of young children who are a little out of place than the average American teenager. Besides dealing with raging hormones and pressures of school, this group of teenagers (with Max as their leader) has a little more to deal with then just homework and tests. Each one of them has been mysteriously taken away when they were only an infant and are not sure who their real parents are. Not only that, they have been nothing but human lab rats their entire lives in a scientific experimentation facility called “the School”. This book is the second in the series and is about their lives outside of “the School”, trying to fit into society and just trying to survive. Since the group has no social skills at all many they make everyday situations into a comedy skit:
““Where did you get your hair done?” someone asked. I turned to see a pale skinny girl smiling at me. I pushed my lunch tray farther down the line. “Um my bathroom?” Was she speaking in code? I had no clue what she meant. A recurring theme in my life””(127)
The story gets even more enjoyable as these clueless and cautious teenagers begin to fit in at their school. They start to make some friends and be more talkative but they run into something they never expected. Love. The author brings in this subject in very interesting way which only makes the book more enjoyable.
“So, are you doing schoolwork or more of a personal project?” he nodded at the computer. I started to say, What’s with the questions? But then I though, Maybe he’s not interrogating me. Maybe this is how people interact, get to know each other. They exchange information.”(141)
“Maximum Ride” is a highly addictive book that has twists and turns at every corner. It keeps the reader from getting bored by introducing ordinary themes to characters that have never been exposed to the outside world. This book has the perfect combination of action, humor and love which is probably why it’s a best seller.