Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson (children’s fiction)
Stars: ****
This is actually the third book in the series. I have not read the first two but When the Wind Blows (of which this series was based on,) is one of my favourite books by James Patterson.
When I heard that Patterson had written a children’s novel I was surprised. Knowing what his adult books are like, I couldn’t imagine how he could write for children without being to scary. I find his writing style completely different in this book, it is hard for me to think of the books as having the same author.
Speaking of writing styles, the book is written differently than most books. It is like there is a narrator who is sitting next to me, telling me the story. Quite a few times the reader is directly addressed. This put an interesting spin on things, I enjoyed it.
Having not read the first two books, I was unsure if I would be able to follow the storyline in number 3 but things are well explained in this book so that you don’t even need to have read books one and two.
I found the story a little slow at the beginning, it took a while for things to start happening but once they did, I couldn’t put the book down. I wanted to know what happened next. At 24, it wasn’t that long ago that I was a teenager and I’ve always liked teen fiction so I can see why this book is so popular with kids already. One reason why I think Max’s stories will become popular is because it’s something entirely new. Bird kids? What other book do you know of with bird kids that have escaped from the school they were bred in? I’m glad to hear that the book will be made into a movie, I would like to see it when it comes out.
One thing I didn’t like about the book although most others I’ve heard from did like it, was Fang’s blog. If by chance this is the first review you’ve read of this book, (highly unlikely but still,) then you may not know that Fang (one of the character’s) has his own blog (which is really online) and it is consulted and used throughout the entire story. Also modern culture is mentioned like Brad Pitt, Harry Potter and Oprah. What I like about books is that they take me away from the real world into a new world so when the two worlds are combined, I find it harder to imagine life in the “book world.”
My favourite part of the book is when Ter Borcht interviews the flock. Max’s (and occasionally the other’s) smart-alec answers are hilarious! I know most kids would love to be able to talk back to adults like that but obviously can’t so it’s great!
Overall I enjoyed this book and recommend it to those 12 and up. I hope that James Patterson chooses to write more novels for kids/teens when Maximum Ride is finished. It’s books like these that get kids reading.
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