Part of Maximum Ride, book 1
First published 2006
Max soars through the sky on wings that shouldn't exist. The fourteen-year-old leads a flock of six kids who escaped from the School, a laboratory where scientists gave them avian DNA and the power of flight. Fang, Iggy, Nudge, and Gasman follow Max anywhere. But when Erasers kidnap Angel, the youngest member, Max faces her hardest choice yet. The wolf-human creatures drag Angel back to the School for more experiments. Max leads her family into Death Valley's scorching heat to find her. The rescue mission pulls them from California's desert to New York City's concrete maze. Erasers hunt them through Central Park's trees and Manhattan's subway tunnels. Jeb, the man who once protected them, now works for their enemies. He tells Max she must save the entire world. The flock fights for survival while Max struggles with a destiny she never wanted. Can a group of kids with wings survive against creatures designed to destroy them?
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, fantasy, action
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: chosen-one, found-family
Setting: California, Death Valley, New York City, Central Park, Manhattan
Period: 21st-century
445 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Grand Central Publishing
Content warnings: violence