If you didn’t already know, I’m a big reader. Voracious, even. I usually read each night in bed – it’s my little way to relax and wind down. Long car trips? Gotta have a book with me. I’m one of those annoying car readers who doesn’t get sick, so I read for hours and don’t keep the driver company. HA!

I’m a huge fan of James Patterson and his Alex Cross series, and a huge fan of Harry Potter, so when I had the chance to get my hands on a fantasy book written by James Patterson, I said yes! The book is called Maximum Ride #3: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports and as I mentioned, it’s by James Patterson. It’s quite a departure from his detective / crime novels though, which may disappoint some of his adult fans. I wasn’t disappointed – in fact, it was interesting to see another side of James Patterson, who I’ve been reading for at least 10 years. I just finished the book this weekend, and it captured me enough that I plan to put the first two books on reserve at the library so I can find out what I missed.

The book isn’t written for children or adults – it’s something I could read, and then pass off to my kids for them to enjoy. I love books like that, because it gives us something to share, and enjoy together. It’s sort of a sci fi / fantasy mix, with Max and her genetically enhanced friends (which include a talking dog) attempting to avoid the bad guys and stop them from killing off half the human race. Did I mention Max and her friends can fly? And they blog? (That was one of my favorite parts of the book – Fang has a blog and you can read his entries, and emails and comments from kids who regularly read his blog.)

It was a bit hard coming into a series in the 3rd book, but James Patterson provided just enough back story for me to get the gist of things without boring regular readers. The book would definitely be helped by a few pictures. One of the things I love about the Harry Potter series is that each chapter included a single picture. A little imagery goes a long way.

At times, it seemed like Patterson was making the story too simplistic, and the language was, well, child-like. I realize he’s trying to capture certain qualities in his characters, but most adults won’t be interested in reading a book like that, but I can certainly see how it will captivated teens, tweens, and their parents. I can definitely see this inspiring kids to keep reading now that Harry Potter is over – there’s even a movement underfoot to get a movie made from the Maximum Ride books. I’d love to see what I read come to the big screen!

Speaking of which, if you’re a teacher, there’s a special teacher’s edition e-book of Maximum Ride available online at MaximumRead.com, as well as a curriculum guide. Schools and classes have created special programs around this book, too! I love to read and I just can’t fathom when kids don’t, so it’s really exciting to see kids so worked up about a book!

Popularity: 1% [?]