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Did you know that James Patterson writes young adult fiction?

Well, I didn’t and apparently I’m the only person on the face of the planet who hadn’t heard of the Maximum Ride Series.

When Mother-Talk sent me Maximum Ride 3: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports (I love free stuff), I read the synopsis and kind of giggled.

Genetically engineered “bird kids”? Bwah, ha, ha. I could just imagine a bunch of kids sitting on statues in the park or knocking the pigeons out of the way so that they could get at the bread crumbs that the little old women toss.

I was pleasantly surprised by a couple of plot twists which was nice. Patterson’s ability to capture the teenage angst and his ability to create some believable characters with dialog that never felt forced was also unexpected and appreciated.

Since this is the first book in the series that I’ve read (kinda late to the party, huh?), I was concerned that I was going to be left in the dust and not be able to get into the story.

Patterson did a decent job of bringing me quickly up to speed. And though some of the finer points went flying over my head, the main structure and history of the whole series was laid out for me and I didn’t feel like too much of an outsider.

Fang’s blog plays a large part in the book and I was more than just a little surprised to find that the blog was/is real and is updated frequently. That “real world” touch helped to make the book seem more “real” and kind of believable… well, as believable as “bird kids” can be.

This is probably not a book that I would recommend to my 20 something friends, but, I would definitely get it for my 13 year old brother and I have no doubt that he would love it.

Since the series is being turned into a movie, you gotta get in there and read the books so you can bitch about how much better they are than the movie.

All in all, Maximum Ride 3: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, was a purty darn good read. I’ll definitely pass it on.

I was given a $20 Amazon Giftcard for my “trouble” of writing this review. I received the book for free and I’ve given both away as gifts.

Also, here’s a video for you Maximum Ride viewing pleasure: