Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment

Bibliography: Patterson, J. (2005). Maximum ride: The angel experiment. New York: Little, Brown.

Genre: Science Fiction/ Adventure


Reading Level/Interest Age: 13-16

Reader's Annotation: Max is only 98% human. The other 2%? Bird. She and her misfit flock weren't born; they were engineered. But now that they're own their own, they don't plan to be caged again.

Author: Patterson, born March 22, 1947, was a top advertising executive before retiring to pursue writing full time in the 1990s. By that time, he was already a successful writer of detective mysteries. Today, Patterson stays at the top of the bestseller lists for novels in several genres for various age groups. Despite his success, Patterson receives criticism for formulaic fiction, often written in collaboration with co-writers.

Plot Summary: Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel are pretty normal except that they're 98% human and 2% bird. They grew up in the lab where they were genetically engineered and lived like animals in cages until one kind scientist helped them escape. Now they are on the run from the Erasers, wolf-like mutants created by the same lab and sent to bring the flock back. While they strive to remain free and hidden, they also try to uncover the mystery of their creation and purpose. But time is short. No one knows how long the bird kids can live, and Max begins to display signs that something is not right. The flock must leave their remote mountain cabin and journey to the sewers of New York City in and effort to uncover information before they die.

Critical Evaluation: From the beginning, I couldn't accept the first-person narration. Patterson doesn't quite capture the tone and style of a regular fourteen year-old, let alone one who has been either locked in a lab cage or hiding in a remote cabin with no electricity for her entire life. Max uses expressions and makes pop culture references that don't ring true given her background. The narration has the feel of what a middle-aged adult thinks teens sound like without actually hitting the mark. What's more, the mental abilities that the members of the flock possess aren't explained by a combination of human and bird DNA. Are birds able to read and influence people's minds? This all seems a bit contrived and silly to me. However while not at all believable, the novel is face-paced and action-packed, and the heroic values that Max and her flock espouse remind me a lot of comic book clichés. I think the series could be very successful with readers who enjoy that sort of thrill ride and aren't really looking for depth or verisimilitude.

Curriculum Ties:

Book Talk Ideas:
• read Max's description of the members of the flock
• focus on the advice and directions given by "the voice" and Max's reaction
• read Max's encounter with the thugs when she saves the little girl
• adapt one of the fight scenes with the erasers

Challenge Issues: disobedient and independent teens / untrustworthy adults, genetic experimentation, flatulence, violence

Challenge Defense:
• Be familiar with the context of the issues
• Explain library selection policies
• Provide reviews of the book from reputable sources
• Explain library challenge procedures
• Offer challenge form

Why was this text included in this project? Patterson is a bestselling author, and this particular series has been widely successful. It has even been adapted into a graphic novel series and optioned for television. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.