Review: (Maximum Ride) School’s Out Forever by James Patterson

May 12th, 2010 | 3.5-4 Treasure Chests, Guest Review, P-R

by Cook Cutlery, guest reviewer

Title: Maximum Ride: Schools out Forever (Book 2)
Author: James Patterson
Format: Paperback
Pages: 412
Grade Reading Level: 7th - 12th Grade

Summary: Maximum Ride and her 3 brothers and 2 sisters were taken as babies and were experimented on and are far from normal humans. They were all turned into avian-hybrids which mean that they have wings and are able to fly. The kids have been on the run ever since they escaped the School (the place where they were experimented on.) Sooner or later Erasers (people who turn into wolves) will find them and attack them forcing them to stay on the move. When a kind woman offers them sanctuary at a new school the kids agree to attend... all seems to be well but conspiracies abound everywhere.

The Characters:

Maximum is the older of her sisters.
Her younger sisters are Nudge and Angel. Nudge is the middle sister and Angel is the youngest sisters.
Fang is the oldest brother, followed by Iggy.
Iggy is blind because the white coats (scientists) tried to give him better night vision but messed up so he lost his vision permanently.
Then Gasman (Gazzy) is the youngest of the 3 brothers. None of them are really related to each other except Angel and Gazzy, and they are actually brother and sister.

Likes:

It had a ton of action in it. Max was trying to keep everyone safe. There was a lot of busting out of places. For instance, when the kids get into a fight with the Erasers, Fang gets badly injured. Then when they land on the beach to see what had happened Max couldn’t believe how hurt he really was.
All of the kids personalities. They're very vivid and entertaining.
I really like that all the kids care about each other even though they're not really family. They have such a strong bond with one another.

Dislikes:

The head-hopping bugs me. I don't like how the book jumps from talking about one person to another without much transition.
Some parts of the book got very confusing because you couldn’t tell who did what or said what and required a second or third reading to understand what happened.

Buy: School's Out - Forever (Maximum Ride, Book 2)

Rating: 4 Treasure Chests