Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Language: Frequent and casual use of “God” as an exclamation. “Freaking” and common swearwords used a handful of times.

Violence: Erasers are part-human part-wolf and their purpose is to kill Max and her flock. The Erasers attack the flock several times in the book. In these fight scenes there is kicking, hitting, scratching, some shooting and a grenade or two.

Angel is kidnapped,  stuffed in a sack and zapped with an electric rod. Max takes on several teenage boys who are hassling a younger girl. She breaks noses, cracks ribs, and hits one in the head with a shotgun. They give chase, shooting at her, and one of the bullets finds its mark. Gazzy and Iggy drop a homemade bomb on a cabin. It blows up and two Erasers are killed. The scientists who are holding Angel hostage, torture, study and test her like an animal. Nudge and Fang fight Erasers and Fang is beaten up badly. Ari, an Eraser who is only 7-years old, shoots at Max and the others. Max bites Ari’s finger so hard it bleeds and she won’t let go. They fight the scientists who are holding them prisoner. Hawks tear into the flesh of the scientists. Max is caught by an Eraser, but he suddenly dies. Ari smashes Fang’s head into a rock, Fang kicks him in the chest and Ari elbows Fang in the mouth. Ari and Max fight. He hits her and she kicks him in the throat and chest. She has a hold of his head and when they fall down, his neck snaps and he dies. An Eraser explodes when he steps on the electric rail of a train track.

Sexual Content: Max kisses Fang

Adult Themes:  Gazzy, who is only 8, feels guilty for killing the two Erasers. The kids steal a car and money from an ATM.  There are many strange mutant experiments. Iggy gets his ear pierced. Max feels guilty and sad for killing Ari. All of the flock are searching for their birth parents. They all want to belong to a real family. They discover that Gazzy and Angel’s parents sold them to the scientists for experiments.

Synopsis

The Maximum Ride series is James Patterson’s first entry into Young Adult fiction.

Maximum Ride and her five friends have 98% human DNA and 2% bird DNA. They are engineered to fly. Having lived most of their lives in a science lab called The School, where they were constantly tested and studied, a scientist named Jeb finally rescues them from The School and takes them to live in a cabin in the wilderness. Jeb acts as the father figure for this makeshift family, but after he disappears, Max and the flock are completely on their own.  Erasers, who are half-human and half-wolf, kidnap 6-year old Angel. This spurs Max, Fang and Iggy all 14, along with Nudge 11 and Gazzy 8, to embark on a rescue mission to save their little sister.

While searching for Angel they attempt to learn more about their history. Why were they created? Where are their parents? Why do they continue to discover powers they never knew they possessed? Why is Max hearing a voice in her head? And is the voice for them or against them?

The story of The Angel Experiment is compelling and I finished in only a couple of days. But although it kept me turning the pages, I was uncomfortable with all of the violence the children participated in. Should a 7-year old know what it feels like to be responsible for killing someone? This is not the focus of the book, and the kids are in “kill or be killed” situations, but still it might be disturbing for more sensitive readers.

I do like the character Max . She is strong and smart and tough, but she is also the mother figure to all of the kids in the flock. She is genuinely concerned for their safety and happiness. Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal both recommend this book for ages 12 and up. I think that’s a bit young for the content.

©2010 The Literate Mother