Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

Patterson's young adult adventure provides a wonderful wrap-up of the first three books in the series, which is about a band of fugitive mutant children. Max and her friends are genetically altered--they've been given wings and the ability to fly. As the flock splits up, they find themselves battling a monomaniacal scientist who is determined to save the world by killing all imperfect people. Nancy Wu reads the majority of the book, telling the story from Max's first-person perspective. James Jenner reads a series of blog entries and the sections told in third person from the boys' points of view. Both performers miss the mark in capturing the feel of the young characters. The pacing is off, and the narrators come off more as caricatures than as believable characters. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

July 1, 2007
Gr 7 Up-Six genetically altered bird-kids continue their mission to prevent the evil scientists who created them from making good on their diabolical plan to eradicate half of the world's population. Just as the flock lets down its guard, the wolflike Erasers resurface to capture the younger members, while Max takes Fang on a detour through Arizona to ask Dr. Martinez, a vet, to surgically remove the tracking chip in her arm. Former nemesis Ari returns, this time as a friend, but Fang's distrust splits the flock along gender lines as he, Iggy, and Gazzy hang out in Venice Beach, while Max, Ari, Nudge, and Angel fly to Europe to infiltrate Itex headquarters. Inside, Max learns vital information about her past, including who her parents are and who controls the "Voice" in her head. A caricatured evil scientist, Dr. Borcht, informs the recombinant-DNA experiments that their expiration date is up and Max is forced into a fight-to-the-death with Omega, the robot boy. Survival options run out as Fang attempts to mobilize armies of kids to attack all worldwide Itex labs by posting appeals on his fast-growing blog. Popular-culture references abound and readers will be drawn to Max's razor-sharp tongue, especially honed in this volume, making her an edgier heroine than in the last. The dialogue-driven story ends with minor casualties and hints at the possibility of further adventures."Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2007
The end is near . . . or is it? So reads the tagline of Book 3 of the Maximum Ride series, suggesting that Pattersons best-selling series for YAs may expand beyond the trilogy originally plannednews that will be greeted enthusiastically by fans of its 14-year-old heroine. Slated for extermination by their scientist creators, rebel-mutant Max and other members of her flock, all of whom possess bird DNA and functioning wings, are on the lam again, their mission to save the world from a eugenics plot. Affection for the dauntless characters and misadventures that build on universal yearnings about sprouting wings and taking flight will hold readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)