maximum ride the angel experiment synopsis

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2005

Plot Summary

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment Summary opens with the main character, Maximum “Max” Ride, running from a group of Erasers. We will later learn that Max is fourteen years old, and the Erasers are wolf/human hybrids.

She runs through a dimly lit forest, toward what she believes is a clearing. Instead, Max runs to the edge of a cliff, briefly stops, and then jumps off. Instead of falling, she snaps out her wings and heads west, flying away as the Erasers shoot at her.

She wakes abruptly, realizing the chase was just a dream. She inspects her nightgown for bullet holes and then collapses back into bed. She hates that dream, but always manages to wake up before she dies inside it.

Max leaves her bedroom and makes her way through the halls of the house to the kitchen. She lives here with several other teenagers who, just like her, are human/avian hybrids. Each of them has abilities and traits because of their hybridity, and together, they are called the Flock. They all attend the School, a shady institution made up of the scientists who have conducted the experiments to create the hybrids.

As Max looks for something to eat, Gazzy arrives. He’s the youngest member of the Flock, and has received his nickname due to his tendency to break wind. They great each other cheerfully, and when Gazzy asks what is for breakfast, Max tells him it is a surprise. Then Iggy arrives, plopping himself onto the couch; he is about the same age as Max. Another boy, Fang, enters and sneaks up behind Max. Max tells him to stop messing around, and then heads to wake the remaining members of the Flock, Nudge and Angel. Nudge is an eleven-year-old African-American girl, and Angel, a girl who is the youngest member of the Flock.

During breakfast, Angel announces that she wants to go out and pick strawberries. They all do, and during their picking, Erasers arrive and kidnap Angel. During the fight, Max is pinned down by two Erasers. A third slams Max into the ground, remarking that it looks like Max has grown. Though she does not recognize him at first, Max realizes this is Ari, the son of the School’s founder Jeb Batchelder. The Flock tries to rescue Angel, but Ari holds a gun to Max’s head. The Erasers escape with Angel in a helicopter.

The Flock decides to make a plan to rescue Angel. They rummage through some of Ari’s old files and learn that the School’s headquarters is in Death Valley. Max, Nudge, and Fang will go to the school, while the others stay at the house.

The three fly toward the School, and stop along the way to rest in an abandoned cottage where they accidentally fall asleep. Max is upset about all the time they have lost. While flying over Arizona, the trio observes a girl being bullied. Max decides to help the girl, and directs the others to meet her at Lake Mead.

Max swoops down to help the girl, who we learn is named Ella. While defending Ella, Max is shot in the shoulder. Max wonders around until she finds Ella’s house, and Ella’s mother, Dr. Martinez. Dr. Martinez patches up Max’s injury, and seems trustworthy when she discovers Max’s wings.

Fang and Nudge hide in a cave at Lake Mead while they study the flight patterns of nearby hawks; back at the House, the remaining members of the Flock are upset that they were left behind. They begin making traps and bombs. It is a good thing, too, because the Erasers arrive the next morning and fall into one of the traps. Iggy and Gazzy escape, but blow up the House in the process.

Fang and Nudge look for food. They are ambushed by more Erasers, who taunt the pair and lie, saying that Iggy and Gazzy are dead. They scuffle, but Fang and Nudge win, using spray paint as weapons. At the end of the fight, Ari is left with green hair.

Dr. Martinez takes Max to her veterinary practice for an x-ray, and while there, they are attacked by Erasers. The doctor hides Max, and seems unfazed by the Erasers’ presence. The x-ray reveals that Max has a computer chip in her arm, but it cannot be safely removed.

Max spends another evening with Ella and her mom, while Gazzy and Iggy find Fang and Nudge at Lake Mead. Max rejoins them the next morning, and the Flock is together once again.

At the School, Angel is being severely mistreated and subjected to a string of brutal experiments. She learns that Jeb, Ari’s father, is alive, and working for the School.

The free members of the Flock observe a man using an ATM at a strip mall. Ari and the Erasers arrive and scare the man off, and the Flock withdraws money using the man’s account.

The Erasers later find them while they are eating. The Flock makes its escape in a stolen van, but Max crashes it. The Erasers capture Max, Fang, and Nudge, but the others escape. The captured members of the Flock are taken to the School, where Jeb tells Max that she is destined for something much more important.

A little while later, they stage an escape, and Iggy and Gazzy return with the hawks from Lake Mead. The Flock stays in the caves there for a while, then begins traveling around. During this time, Max begins hearing the Voice inside her head.

Angel tells the Flock that she learned about their real parents during her capture. They decide to go to the Institute of Higher Living in New York to find out more. They sleep in the trees of Central Park, do research at the library, and generally try to lie low. They eventually find some tunnels in which to hide.

Max begins to hear the Voice even more, and it directs them to a large toy store where a talking board directs Max to save the world. They are attacked again by the Erasers, but escape, and find another bankcard which they use to withdraw money. They visit a fancy restaurant but attract suspicion when they order large amounts of food. They dash out of the restaurant where they are once again confronted by Ari and the Erasers. Then, Angel manifests the psychic ability to make people do things. The Erasers leave.

The Flock hides, sleeping at a construction site. At one point, while swimming, Max develops gills. The Erasers return, and in the fight, badly injure Fang. Jeb arrives and orders the Erasers to release the Flock; Max kisses Fang.

The Flock go back to the city, and while underground, they are led through the sewer system by a map in Max’s head, finding their way to the Institute. At the Institute they find more experiments, and free them, fighting off Erasers as they do. The other experiments leave, but Angel keeps a dog she names Total. Based upon information they find, the Flock decides to travel to Washington, DC, and the book ends.

While this is primarily an action-adventure novel, the theme of family plays heavily on its plot. The Flock has formed a new family, brought together by the evil machinations of the School. The older kids take on parental roles toward the younger kids, and they each provide the type of support a family normally provides.

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Toni Morrison

The Angel Experiment

The Angel Experiment is the first book in the Maximum Ride series and also the first book of the Fugitives trilogy. The book was released in the US on April 11, 2005 and in the UK on July 4, 2005. The book is set in the near future and centers around the " Flock ," a group of avian-human hybrids (98% human, 2% bird), on the run from the scientists who created them.

• 5 Alternate Covers
• 6 International Editions

Do not put this book down. I'm dead serious. Your life could depend on it. I'm risking everything by telling you -- but you need to know. If you dare to read this story, you become part of the Experiment. I know that sounds a little mysterious -- but it's all I can say right now. Max

Congratulations. The fact that you're reading this means you've taken one giant step closer to surviving till your next birthday . . . The funny thing about facing imminent death is that it really snaps everything else into perspective. Take right now, for instance . . . If no one knows about us, we stay alive .

Fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride, better known as Max, knows what it’s like to soar above the world. She and all the members of the “Flock”—Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman and Angel—are just like ordinary kids—only they have wings and can fly. It may seem like a dream come true to some, but their lives can morph into a living nightmare at any time…like when Angel, the youngest member of the flock, is kidnapped and taken back to the “School” where she and the others were experimented on by a crew of wack-job scientists. Her family brave a journey to blazing hot Death Valley, CA, to save Angel, but soon enough, they find themselves in yet another nightmare—this one involving fighting off the half-human, half-wolf “Erasers” in New York City. Whether in the treetops of Central Park or in the bowels of the Manhattan subway system, Max and her adopted family take the ride of their lives. Along the way Max discovers from her old friend and father-like figure Jeb—now her betrayed and greatest enemy—that her purpose is save the world . . . But, the question is, can she?

The story begins with Max running away from a group of Erasers . While running, she comes to a stop at a cliff edge and proceeds to jump off. Upon jumping off, she snaps out her wings and flies away from the Erasers.

Waking up, she realizes that it was all just a nightmare , then she throws on some clean clothes and heads to the kitchen of their house . As she is looking for food, Gazzy enters the kitchen and tells her good morning. Max tells him good morning as well, and when he asks her what's for breakfast, she says it's a surprise. Iggy soon comes into the kitchen as well and falls "with perfect aim" onto the Flock's couch. Fang also sneaks up behind Max and responds sarcastically when told to quit it. Max then goes and awakens Nudge and Angel .

At breakfast, Angel says that she wants to go strawberry picking, and the Flock soon does so; however, they are briefly delayed by Gazzy passing gas. Shortly after they arrive outside, Erasers come and attack them, resulting in Angel getting kidnapped. The Flock tries to rescue her, but Ari Batchelder —the son of the Flock's "father", Jeb Batchelder —holds a gun to Max's head while she tries to get into the Erasers' helicopter, resulting in them getting away.

The rest of the Flock makes a plan to go and rescue Angel. Fang looks through Jeb’s old files to find that the location of the School is in Death Valley. Max decides that she, Nudge and Fang will go to the School, while Iggy and Gazzy stay home.

The three of them fly and stop to find food at an abandoned vacation cottage, where they accidentally fall asleep. Max is horrified by the amount of time they’ve lost and they set out again, but as they fly over Arizona, she notices a girl being bullied by a group of boys. She tells Fang and Nudge to meet her at the northernmost point of Lake Mead and then dives down. However, while defending Ella, she gets shot in the shoulder. She wanders until she finds Ella’s house, where Ella’s mother Dr. Martinez patches up her arm and discovers her wings. Despite Max’s fears, the Martinezes seem trustworthy.

Fang and Nudge reach Lake Mead and spend the night in a cave, studying the flight patterns of the local hawks, while Iggy and Gazzy – resentful at being left behind and eager to fight off Erasers – begin working on traps and bombs. The Erasers return to the area the next morning, only to drive into one of the traps. Iggy and Gazzy evade them and blow up their house in the process.

Fang and Nudge begin flying around to find food and look for signs of Max, but stop in Tipisco to look for Nudge’s mother. While there, Erasers ambush them with taunts that the house is destroyed and Iggy and Gazzy are dead. The two bird kids fight them off with spray paint, leaving Ari with green hair.

Doctor Martinez takes Max to her veterinary practice for an X-ray, but they’re interrupted when Erasers arrive. Martinez hides Max in a supply closet and seems unaffected by the Erasers. The X-ray reveals that Max has a computer chip in her arm, but it’s in too deep to be safely removed. While Max spends a second night at the Martinez house making homemade chocolate chip cookies, Gazzy and Iggy arrive at Lake Mead and are reunited with Fang and Nudge. Max rejoins them the next morning.

Meanwhile, Angel is being badly mistreated at the School, forced to take part in exhausting and brutal experiments. She finds out that Jeb is alive and working with the School.

Reunited, the five Flock members set off once more for the School. They stop at a strip mall, where they see a man using an ATM. Ari and the Erasers drive by and scare him off so quickly that he leaves his card behind, allowing the Flock to withdraw two hundred dollars.

They then steal a van and visit a fast food restaurant, each of them ordering a huge amount of food. However, as they eat, they realize that they’re surrounded by people who look suspiciously like Erasers. They race out the exit with Erasers chasing after them and Max drives the van through a cornfield back onto a road where she immediately crashes into a sedan. Erasers surround the wreck and pull them out. Iggy and Gazzy escape, but the others are taken to the School, where they’re reunited with Angel. Jeb talks to Max and tells her that she’s meant for something important.

Some time later, their cages are taken outside, but they break out just as Iggy and Gazzy return with the hawks from Lake Mead. The Flock flies back to the caves there. Now homeless, they begin slowly traveling around. Max is experiencing horrible headaches and beginning to hear a Voice .

Angel tells them that she discovered more information about their real parents. As a result, they decide to go to New York to find the Institute for Higher Living , where they can find more files.

They arrive in New York and continue lying low, hiding from Erasers, and sleeping in the trees of Central Park . Eating food from street stands, they go to the New York Public Library of Humanities and Social Sciences and stay there doing research until closing time approaches and a security guard starts coming towards them. They run away and decide to take the subway to Central Park, but instead notice a light and follow it into an underground city in the abandoned tunnels . They sleep there, but are woken up by a guy yelling about his broken computer and blaming Max.

The next day, Max begins hearing the Voice frequently. It directs them around and they visit AFO Schmidt . Max keeps noticing strange things, like an Ouija board spelling out “Save the World, Max.” Angel wants a stuffed bear she’s found, but Max tells her that they’re almost out of money. Instead Angel telepathically convinces a woman to buy the bear, which she names Celeste . They’re attacked again by Erasers in the middle of the city, but one of them dies upon reaching his expiration date. While hurrying away, Max finds a bank card .

They sleep in Central Park again, but this time they’re caught there by police and run away. Max thinks she notices Jeb among the policemen. Angel drops Celeste and is heartbroken, but they keep running and hide in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral.

They manage to access the bank card and withdraw more money. They visit the 433 Building , hoping to find the Institute there. Max asks if the building has a basement, but the secretary just seems suspicious of them and they hurry out to avoid the security guards. The younger kids ask to eat at a fancy restaurant called Garden Tavern . However, they get into trouble with the manager after ordering large amounts of food. When cops arrive, the Flock smashes out of the restaurant without their food and land in some trees, where they are caught by Erasers. Ari has Celeste, but Angel telepathically forces him to give the bear back to her. However, Ari receives a call from the Director and the Erasers leave.

The Flock continues to hide out, now sleeping in a construction site. Pictures of them in the restaurant are now appearing in newspapers, so they need disguises. While getting food, they encounter a stylist who's giving out free makeovers. They camp out on a beach, where they go swimming and Angel develops gills. However, they’re soon ambushed by Erasers, who injure Fang badly. Jeb arrives and tells the Erasers to release the Flock. Fang is badly injured, and Max kisses him.

They fly back into the city once more and spend the night in the underground city, where Max talks to the guy with the computer about the computer chip in her arm. The Voice sends Max a vision and a mental map that leads the Flock through the sewer system into the Institute. There they free a group of experiments and steal files before fighting off Erasers. In the process, Max kills Ari. The other experiments leave, but Angel keeps a dog she’s found, which she names Total . Based on their new information, the Flock decides to fly to Washington, D.C.

Adaptations

A film adapting the first half of the book was released on Digital HD in August 2016, and in limited theaters in September.

On January 27, 2009, Yen Press published a manga version of The Angel Experiment , the first volume in a series. The graphics were done by college artist NaRae Lee as her first manga novel. It received positive reception. The School Library Journal praised Lee for her "superb job" of adapting the book to "attractive manga-style illustrations", though it noted that the narrative was "a bit slow at first". Booklist said that the plot of the story was "presented with boisterous and nicely stylized images that purposively exploit manga features, postures, and symbolism", as well as that its cliffhanger would "entice readers to seek the next in the series". A Kindle version of the manga novel was also released. The Angel Experiment is finished in the second volume of the manga.

As part of the Marvel miniseries , The Angel Experiment was adapted as a comic under the title Max Ride: First Flight. This five-issue arc debuted in 2015.

• At the end of the book, some of Fang's blog posts are included, detailing a trip he and Nudge make to Washington, D.C. ahead of the Flock, where they discover the Institute of Higher Aeronatics .

Alternate Covers

International Editions

• 1 Fang (character)
• 2 Maximum "Max" Ride
• 3 Maximum Ride: The Manga

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Maximum ride, book 1: the angel experiment, common sense media reviewers.

OK series launch about flock of mutants. Tweens.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Mutant tale has a message about the danger of scie

The heroes steal money and a car.

Lots, some pretty brutal, with blood, broken noses

Some mentioned directly: soda, cookie, electronics

Parents need to know that there is a lot of violence here, some of it quite brutal, including serious injuries. There are broken noses and bones, knocked-out teeth, and some deaths, guns, explosions, and car chases. The marketing for this book is also pretty intense, including Blogspot and MySpace pages and a contest…

Positive Messages

Mutant tale has a message about the danger of scientific advancements, but it's muffled by mediocrity.

Positive Role Models

Violence & scariness.

Lots, some pretty brutal, with blood, broken noses and bones, knocked-out teeth, and some deaths, guns, explosions, and car chases.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Some mentioned directly: soda, cookie, electronics, games. Some thinly disguised, such as AFO Schmidt instead of FAO Schwartz.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that there is a lot of violence here, some of it quite brutal, including serious injuries. There are broken noses and bones, knocked-out teeth, and some deaths, guns, explosions, and car chases. The marketing for this book is also pretty intense, including Blogspot and MySpace pages and a contest to put together a tie-in music CD.

Where to Read

Community reviews.

• Parents say (21)
• Kids say (146)

Based on 21 parent reviews

Maximum Ride Review

Great writing with mature themes and discussions, what's the story.

Max and five other kids, "the flock," were created by evil scientists at a place called the School, by combining human and avian DNA. They can fly, are unusually strong, and have a variety of other talents, some just emerging. Before the book begins they have escaped from the School, where the scientists were keeping them in cages and torturing them with experiments, and have been living on their own.

The youngest of the flock, Angel, is recaptured, and the rest fly back to the school to rescue her. Now they are being hunted by Erasers, human/wolf mutants also created at the School, while they travel across the country, trying to discover the secrets of their origins and purposes.

Is It Any Good?

Author James Patterson, best known for adult suspense novels, makes a passable foray into the young adult market with this book about a group of human/bird hybrids. For teens who just want action and excitement and who don't much care about the niceties -- such as logic, character development, consistent voice, or plot -- this will be plenty of fun. There's lots of gritty violence, but no sex, drugs, or language problems to worry parents (at least those who don't worry about gritty violence). And there's the fantasy of winged flight, which is always a kid-pleaser.

The entire book amounts to little more than a prologue to the series: Despite more than 400 pages of chases, fights, break-ins, and almost non-stop action, practically nothing actually happens. The main characters are captured, they escape, they are cornered, they escape, they are wounded, they recover, they try to hide, they are found, over and over again. In truth, very little of it makes any kind of sense, though there are plenty of hints that it will eventually -- just not in this book.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the idea of human and animal experimentation and whether or not it's ethical.

In the book, the scientists are clearly the bad guys, but are these types of experiments ever justified?

You can also discuss the book's marketing. Why the tie-in CD and Web sites?

Are there different standards for book and movie marketing?

Could this kind of aggressive, movie-style marketing of a book actually be a good thing, or is it just manipulative?

Book Details

• Author : James Patterson
• Genre : Science Fiction
• Book type : Fiction
• Publisher : Little, Brown and Company
• Publication date : May 21, 2006
• Number of pages : 426
• Last updated : June 9, 2015

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Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment - Epilogue Summary & Analysis

Epilogue Summary

The Flock takes off and begins to fly. Max still has many questions that remain unanswered. The voice refuses to cooperate.

Epilogue Analysis

Patterson clearly intends to create a cliffhanger and leads the reader to the next book in the series.

(read more from the Epilogue Summary)

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Book summary and reviews of Maximum Ride by James Patterson

Summary | Reviews | More Information | More Books

Maximum Ride

The Angel Experiment

by James Patterson

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• Genre: Thrillers
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About this book

Book summary.

Fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride, better known as Max, knows what it's like to soar above the world. She and all the members of the "Flock"--Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel--are just like ordinary kids--only they have wings and can fly. It may seem like a dream come true to some, but their lives can morph into a living nightmare at any time--like when Angel, the youngest member of the "Flock," is kidnapped and taken back to the "School" where she and the others were genetically engineered by sinister scientists. Her friends brave a journey to blazing hot Death Valley, CA, to save Angel, but soon enough, they find themselves in yet another nightmare--this one involving fighting off the half-human, half-wolf "Erasers" in New York City. Whether in the treetops of Central Park or in the bowels of the Manhattan subway system, Max and her adopted family take the ride of their lives. Along the way Max discovers from her old friend and father-figure Jeb--now her betrayed and greatest enemy--that her purpose is save the world--but can she?

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Media Reviews

Reader reviews.

"[Patterson] delivers an action-packed cross between Gertrude Chandler Warner's Boxcar Children and Marvel Comics' X-Men ." - Booklist "The narrative alternates between Max's first-person point-of-view and that of the others in the third person, but readers don't get to know Max very well. The only major flaw is that the children sound like adults most of the time." - School Library Journal

Author Information

• Books by this Author

James Patterson Author Biography

James Patterson has created more enduring fictional characters than any other novelist writing today with his Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Women's Murder Club, Private, NYPD Red, Daniel X, Maximum Ride, and Middle School series. As of January 2016, he has sold over 350 million books worldwide and currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers. In addition to writing the thriller novels for which he is best known, he also writes children's, middle-grade, and young-adult fiction and is also the first author to have #1 new titles simultaneously on the New York Times adult and children's bestsellers lists. The son of an insurance salesman and a schoolteacher, Patterson grew up in Newburgh, New York, and began casually writing at the ...

... Full Biography Author Interview Link to James Patterson's Website

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Book Review

The angel experiment.

• James Patterson
• Adventure , Science Fiction

Readability Age Range

• Little, Brown and Company, in conjunction with Time Warner Book Group
• The New York TimesBestseller List, 2006; YALSA Teen's Top 10 Award, 2005

Year Published

This review was created by the editorial staff at Thriving Family magazine

This science-fiction adventure is the first book in the ” Maximum Ride ” series by James Patterson and is published by Little, Brown and Company, in conjunction with Time Warner Book Group.

The Angel Experiment is written for kids ages 12 and up. The age range reflects readability and not necessarily content appropriateness.

Plot Summary

At a secret lab called The School, scientists perform genetic tests on children. Four years ago, one of the scientists (Jeb) helped six mutant kids escape to a house in the mountains. He lived with them there for two years as a loving protector and father figure. Then he vanished. They assumed he’d been killed.

Today, 14-year-old Maximum Ride (Max) affectionately cares for the mutant group like a mother. She calls them the Flock because each, including her, was injected with bird DNA. Consequently, each child has wings and can fly. Other Flock members include Fang (age 14), Iggy (14 and blind due to The School’s experiments), Nudge (an 11-year-old girl with the gift of gab), Gasman (or Gazzy, age 8, so named because of his flatulent tendencies) and Angel (Gazzy’s 6-year-old biological sister who can read minds).

The Flock has remained under the radar for two years when they’re attacked at their home by The School’s half-human/half-wolf creations called Erasers. The creatures capture Angel, and the others take flight to rescue her. When the Flock reaches The School many days later, they’re captured and returned to animal cages, similar to those they once inhabited. They’re startled and angered to find Jeb conducting tests there once again. Jeb tries to tell Max to trust him, but she and the other Flock members escape. Angel tells them she overheard things in the lab that could help the kids learn where they came from.

Based on Angel’s information, the Flock flies to New York in search of a place called The Institute. Max begins hearing a voice in her head that speaks in cryptic messages and guides her to The Institute. There, the kids find more mutant children trapped in cages. They evade the Erasers long enough to print out some information about their past history. As they escape, they kill a particularly powerful Eraser named Ari in self-defense. Jeb screams to Max that she’s killed her own brother. Max continues to ponder this remark as the other kids read the information about themselves. The younger kids want to fly to Washington, D.C., to follow leads on their parents. Max goes with them, though she has no information about her own past. The Voice tells her she has a greater mission before her.

Christian Beliefs

Max says listening to Nudge’s motor mouth could turn Mother Teresa into an ax murderer. She thinks flying must be what it feels like to be God. She says she feels a lack of enthusiasm even after Jeb has told her she’s preordained and practically implied she’s the messiah. When Max has one of her horrible headaches, she begs God to let her die quickly. Jeb passes through the crowd of Erasers as Moses parting the Red Sea.

Having never been to church, the kids are intrigued by St. Patrick’s cathedral. Max says it smells ancient and religious. She feels safe and says it seems like a place where six homeless kids just might be heard. Angel suggests they pray, and Nudge asks if they’re praying to God. Nudge prays for parents.

Angel prays she’ll get her teddy bear back, that she’ll grow up to be like Max and that they’ll be safe from the bad guys. Iggy asks that his sight will be restored and that he’ll be able to “kick Jeb’s butt,” and Gazzy prays that he’ll be big and strong so that he can help people. Max says she never really thought about whether she believed in God and wonders if God would have let the scientists do such evil experiments. She prays for bravery, strength, wisdom, answers and the ability to take care of the Flock. They all feel so peaceful in the church, they don’t want to leave.

Other Belief Systems

Max calls a bullet wound she receives sheer bad luck. When the starving Fang finds food, he calls it Nirvana. Max justifies using a stolen ATM card because the card’s owner was a jerk, and she reasons that it’s his karma getting back at him. In a toy store, a Ouija board moves by itself and tells Max to save the world. When Max is lost in the subway, she lets the feng shui guide her and finds the door she needs.

Authority Roles

Max is the main authority figure for the Flock. She makes the plans and keeps everyone safe. She believes honesty is always good, “except when it’s better to lie” to protect others. When she hears Angel cursing, she vows to watch her own language to set a better example. Scientist Jeb Batchelder cares for the Flock like a father for two years. When they find him alive and working at The School once again, they feel angry and betrayed. The Voice in Max’s head guides her to The Institute. It says it considers itself her friend and loves her more than anyone, but that it asks the questions, not her.

Dr. Martinez is the mother of a girl Max rescues from bullies. When Max is hurt, Dr. Martinez assists Max without judging or asking too many questions about her wings. She protects Max from being captured, patches up her wounds and even bakes homemade cookies with her. Max fantasizes that Dr. Martinez is her mother. Some of the Flock members suspect their parents gave them to The School for money.

Profanity & Violence

The Lord’s name is frequently used in vain. Butt, crap, h—, suck and heck appear a few times. The kids sometimes curse more severely but without specific words appearing in the text. Max calls the scientists sadistic spawns of Satan. She shoots Ari “the bird.”

A number of battles between Flock members and Erasers turn violent and bloody. People are shot and sliced up by bird beaks. Body parts, including noses and necks, are broken with “stomach-turning” cracking noises. When Angel is kidnapped, Max punches a tree until she’s bloody and skin is missing. The scientists perform horrible experiments on kids. They shock and burn them, operate on them, put them in mazes like rats and leave them in pet crates when they’re not being tested. Some test subjects have vital organs outside of their bodies. A few times, the kids in the Flock see badly mutated children die in front of them.

Sexual Content

When Fang has been beaten badly, Max kisses him on the lips.

Discussion Topics

If your children have read this book or someone has read it to them, consider these discussion topics:

• If you were Max, would you trust The Voice?

How do you determine who you can trust in your life?

Why are friendship, loyalty and a sense of family so important to the Flock?

• What would have happened if they had gone their separate ways after Jeb left?

What do the kids feel is missing in their lives because they don’t have, or even know about, their parents?

What is a fatal flaw?

• What does Max say is her fatal flaw?

What’s yours?

What does The Voice mean when it tells Max that knowledge is a terrible burden?

• Have you ever had information others didn’t that became a heavy weight on your shoulders?
• What did you do?

How can knowing Jesus help release your burdens?

What are your impressions of Jeb and the scientists at The School?

• What value do they place on human life?
• Are there people in our society who treat other humans as disposable items? Explain your answer.

Which humans does God value?

Why is Jeb’s betrayal so devastating to the kids in the Flock?

• Have you ever been betrayed by someone you loved and respected?
• What happened? How did you feel?

Additional Comments

Smoking: A woman Nudge thinks may be her mother smokes a cigarette.

Criminal Activity: The Flock sleeps in parks, steals food, hops subway turnstiles, hotwires a car and gets money from an ATM when someone accidentally leaves a card in the machine.

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Maximum Ride - The Angel Experiment

Max and the Flock have run away from the School, the lab complex where they spent the first part of their lives locked up in cages and experimented on. After four years, their hiding place has been discovered and Angel, the youngest, is captured. The others must get her back and find answers to their own questions along the way.

• Get to know Max

Synopsis 

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Maximum Ride the angel experiment Chapter 1 summary?

During chapter 1 of Maximum Ride:The angel Experiment, its introducing the characters and starting up the plot and theme of the story. 6 kids: Max, Angel, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, and Gasman. they were in a science facility {or as the kids call it the school }when they were born,( You will find out why they were brought there further down the story) they were injected with bird genes and were 98% human and 2% bird and they could fly some had special abilitys a nice scientist brought stole them and took care of them but he disappeared with out a trace on day so max was left in charge not the oldest but maturest they avoided the school as much as they could thats why the house was in the forest one day angel wanted to pick strawberries but the gang was ambushed and the ereasers (the scientists wearwolfs that help them out) took angle that was the chapter and chapter 2 has more detail i enjoyed reading this novel it did put my imagination into a different perspective!:)

In Chapter 1 of "Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment," the readers are introduced to the main character, Maximum "Max" Ride, along with the other members of her group: Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel. They are a group of genetically engineered children who are being held against their will in a mysterious facility known as the School. The chapter sets the stage for their daring escape and sets the tone for the action-packed adventure that follows.

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What’s Up With the Ending?

The Angel Experiment ends in an open-ended way, with the whole flock flying off to Washington D.C. in order to find their parents. It's the sort of ending that makes perfect sense for the first book in a series, and Max sums up her complicated feelings about their next adventure the following way:

When we got to Washington DC, it would be either incredibly great or a totally heartbreaking disaster. (E.7)

She's setting the reader up for all of the ups and downs that are to come later in the series. Things could go great… but there will probably still be some obstacles and unexpected dangers thrown into the mix. That's okay, though, because this flock is more than capable of handling it.

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