Maximum Ride: School's Out Forever

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Maximum Ride: School's Out Forever

First UK edition cover of Maximum Ride: School's Out Forever.
Author	James Patterson
Cover artist	David Perry, Pete Turner & Rob Matheson
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Young adult, science fiction
Publisher	Headline (UK) Little, Brown (U.S.)
Publication date	May 23, 2006
Pages	416 (hardback) 368 (paperback)[1]
ISBN	0-316-15559-4
Preceded by	Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment
Followed by	Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

Maximum Ride: School's Out—Forever is the second book in the sci-fi action-adventure series Maximum Ride by James Patterson, published by Little, Brown. The book was released in the US and the UK on May 23, 2006.^[2][3] The series centers on the "Flock", a group of human-avian hybrids on the run from the scientists who created them. The "flock" consists of 6 children who have different abilities; Angel can mind read, Nudge can tell more info about any thing as long as she can touch it, and Iggy as long as he is blind can yet still build the most sophisticated bombs.

Plot[]

After the events of Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, the prior book, the Flock is headed toward Washington, D.C., where they hope to find the answers to their origins. However, after Fang is gravely injured by a flying Eraser and taken to a hospital, the Flock is housed by an FBI agent named Anne on the agreement that she is allowed to examine them "at a distance." The Flock enjoys a rare period of peace, even attending a private school, which is later discovered to have been an insane asylum. Life is good to them for now, as Max sees it, but they happen to be seeing Erasers often and their relationships in the Flock with each other are starting emotions that sometimes spill over and cause fights. Suddenly, though, Iggy finds his long lost parents (he later said, "They were the real thing and the real thing wanted to make money off me"). An ordeal at their school in which teachers pull out tasers and chase Max, causing the Flock to leave. Angel then suggests that they go to Florida, and for lack of a better plan, Max agrees. Later on, while in Florida, the Flock learns that a multi-national corporation named Itex is plotting to destroy the world, based on what Angel "overheard" some teachers thinking about being one of the company's able to destroy the world, and is also tracking the Flock's movements. Earlier, Anne had revealed herself as a member of the lab that created the Flock, and seeks to recapture them. Afterward, Max faces a clone of herself created by Itex, and she is destined to either destroy it or have it kill her. However, when she discovers that Itex created the clone to kill the original Max, she decides not to destroy the clone after a long battle to the death in the Itex Headquarters. The clone is referred to simply as "fake Max" or "the other Max".

Reception[]

Maximum Ride: School's Out Forever received good reviews. Booklist delivered a positive review, praising Patterson's "ability to write page-turning action scenes" and noting that he "leaven[ed] the suspense with some surprising humor."^[4] It also mentioned that fans of the first book would be "delighted"^[4] with the sequel. Erin Collazo Miller from About.com praised the "fast-paced" novel, "fun characters," and "interesting premise."

References[]