This book takes you into a world that is dangerous. Where strange things are possible, and you can believe you are really there.

This is the second installment of the Maximum Ride series, picking up right after The Angel Experiment. I would suggest you listen to them in order to avoid any confusion in the plotline.

Maximum Ride: Schools out Forever starts right where The Angel Experiment left off, continuing with the six genetically engineered children being chased by their main enemies, the Erasers, a wolf/human hybrid. Max, Fang, Iggy, Gasman, Nudge and Angle continue to evade the predators in each city they visit. Max continues to be plagued by the death of their main Eraser pursuer named Ari, who might or might not be her biological brother. She also continues to hear the Voice in her head, and is confused as to who or what it is.

Along the way, they meet a seemingly kind woman, who just happens to be a high-ranking FBI agent, who enrolls them in a normal school where Max feels as though she's an outcast. Max and her fellow winged children end up releasing a bunch of other genetically altered animals onto the city, which doesn't go very far, except they adopt a dog that Angel has become attached to. He seems like your normal, run-of-the-mill puppy, until he opens his mouth and talks! You will enjoy the story and become enthralled in narrator Valentina De Angelis' portrayal of each individual child... including the dog! She did a beautiful job of putting emotion and feeling behind the key points in the story. I also enjoyed the sound effects and musing during the telling of the tale. The only negative thing about this listening experience was the music. I couldn't tell if it was the end of the disc or the end of a chapter.

Overall, it was a wonderful listening experience!

Armchair Interviews says: Another good listen for Young Adults.

ok lets start here by just saying saying basic praise to Patterson. i have a couple things to say: it was a great book but really the preview of chapter 38(of #3) at the end just got me freaked, the way it was said that the kids were dreaming for the last 6 months. Was that true, or was a load of crud to readers? I myself think it was plain crud. let us know!

Brilliant book, as only James Patterson can produce, now reading the follow up to this,hope he writes more in the angel series

A marvelous sequel to the first book in this series. The tension is building...can't wait to read the third! A book that can be enjoyed by both children and adults.

Do not pay attention to those who gave this book a ONE STAR rating. All they did was complain it was not like his Cross books or was like "teen fiction". Um DUH !!!!! That is what it is exactly - TEEN FICTION !!!

These are great books. I have read them and enjoyed them as an adult and my jr high aged daughted has also enjoyed them.

The book was delivered and in the condition stated. Delivered on time . Excellant service!!!!!

Second book in the Maximum Ride series.

The story picks up 24 hours after the end of the first book. Ari is dead (or is he?) and Max is not sure how to feel. As Max and the rest of the flock continue the search for their parents and their purpose, they run into one exciting situation after another, including a Max clone who thinks she can replace Max and betray the flock with no one the wiser. Lots of action and not a whole lot of character development, but Total (the dog) now talks and I love Max--I can't get enough of her snarky, sarcastic comments.

I bought this book for my 15 year old son, His review:
Since I really enjoyed the first Maximum Ride book from James Patterson, anxious to start reading his second book of the Maximum Ride series. Couldn't put the book down, would start reading "School's Out" as soon as I came home from school and finished it in one day. A MUST READ!!!

I think this is the best book in the series. Nonstop action-adventure, good vs evil, even some romance is involved. We really get to know the characters well in this book. All I can say is that this is a high octane book that you will not be able to put down, no matter what your age.

He used to be a non reader but he plowed through these books in no time and is anxiously waiting for the next book. He loved them!

Here in book 2 of the Maximum Ride series The wonderful Mr Patterson takes us all on the Max ride of a lifetime . The Angel kids has some rough times and narrow escapes from the "Erasers" , A bad Max is created and the original Max is captured , this being the first time Max is really seperated from her flock finds her uncomfortable and helpless to some extent trapped in a tank .... The angel kids finds themselves living and healing comfortable with Anne at some point until they find out who she really is . ....

This book has plenty of twists and turns including to small children trying to help capture the Angel kids . These kids pretending to be lost in the woods and all alone but they are actually .....

Read the book and get the ride / flight of your lifetime !
Hats off to Mr Patterson for a job well done again .

All four of the Maximum Ride books are fun reading. You can't put the book down and when you are getting to the end, you can't wait to read the next one.

- A stunned doctor (learning of Max's wings): "You're a human-avian hybrid."
- Max: "I prefer Avian American."

Warning: Some SPOILERS here.

These poor, poor kids! Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel - six genetically-engineered kids, ages ranging from six years old to fourteen - have not had an easy time since birth. Imprisoned in cages, mercilessly subjected to agonizing experiments, and grafted with avian DNA (ergo, the retractable wings), they finally broke out of the School some years ago. But the School has been implacable in hunting them down ever since, and, somehow, it has the ability to always locate them. And the School, more often than not, sends out the Erasers, its vicious werewolf-like enforcers, to do its dirty deeds. So far, Maximum Ride (or Max) has been able to take care of her flock and fight off the Erasers and confound the laboratory whitecoats. But the pressure is slowly starting to take its toll. For Max, there's that weird Voice in her head and that burden of having to save the world, although she doesn't yet know from what. Not to mention, she has to face up to the gravity of a horrible act she committed in the prior book. As this second volume to James Patterson's awesome Maximum Ride series opens up, nothing much has changed.

MAXIMUM RIDE: SCHOOL'S OUT - FOREVER begins roughly 24 hours after the events in MAXIMUM RIDE: THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT. Having infiltrated and then escaped from the Institution (which is directly linked to the malevolent School), the kids are flying enroute to Washington, DC to look for Iggy's birth parents when they are attacked in mid-flight by a new breed of Erasers - this time, Erasers with their own wings. The furious battle leaves Fang gravely injured and forces Max to take him to a public hospital, where his wings can't help but be noticed by the doctors. Soon enough, the FBI comes a-knocking, and Max is left with no choice but to cooperate until Fang recovers. An FBI agent coaxes the flock into staying with her in her sprawling Virginian home, and she even enrolls them in a school. But, even as the flock begins to relax into their new lifestyle, the Erasers make their move...and Max finds out that her deadliest foe may be...herself.

Meanwhile, is it such a surprise that the flock's new school turns out to be pretty sinister? And that the flock's former trusted friend, Jeb Batchelder, persists in testing Max?

MAXIMUM RIDE: SCHOOL'S OUT - FOREVER improves on THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT. This one is just as fast-paced but even more riveting, and Patterson manages to pack in busloads of character development (for one thing, we learn more of the Eraser, Ari, and what goes thru his head; also, Total the dog completely rocks). And, while the answers are still long in coming, there are some notable reveals. For instance, Max gets a step closer to figuring out her destiny, specifically, the how-to-save-the-world part of it (she actually discovers the entity which she's supposed to go up against). Meanwhile, this series continues to hit you up with the humor, the funniest sequence being when the kids were separately interviewed by perplexed FBI agents. I also enjoyed the flock's time at the private school. I guess it's not too much of a shock that these particular kids would so frequently end up in the Principal's office, no matter how much Max has pleaded with them to blend in.

Because the story is narrated mostly thru Max's first person point-of-view, the reader sympathizes with her the most. Max, always protective of her charges and gutsy and bold and funny, is a wonderful heroine. She tells her story engagingly and with warmth and drops in a lot of humorous and poignant Max-isms. She becomes even more real when she gets quite jealous of the FBI agent's growing maternal relationships with her flock and later at last breaks down from having shouldered so much responsibility for so long. She's such an appealing character. But then so are the rest of the flock (and Total).

From Virginia to Florida (where, of course, the kids have to make a pit stop at Disney World), MAXIMUM RIDE: SCHOOL'S OUT - FOREVER takes you on an exhilarating flight. The conspiracy, it turns out, is very real and on a global scale. The stakes are extraordinary. The peril is ever present; the odds against the flock, massive. And then there's also homework. And first dates.

James Patterson crafts another rapid, engrossing read guaranteed to keep you up nights, and, if you're a young adult, maybe even keep you from your own homework and dates. If the first entry to the series THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT was intriguing, this one'll get you hooked but good. And, as if Max isn't a cool enough person, she also discovers a new super power. Which makes her even cooler.

Just don't ask her to cook.

The Maximum Ride series (so far):
- Maximum Ride : The Angel Experiment (Teen's Top 10 (Awards))
- MAXIMUM RIDE: SCHOOL'S OUT - FOREVER
- Saving the World (Maximum Ride, Book 3)
- The Final Warning (Maximum Ride, Book 4)

THE SERIES IS ENGAGING, THE INTERACTIVE WEBSITE IS A USEFUL RESOURCE, LESSON PLANS ARE AVAILABLE FOR FREE THROUGH THE WEBSITE. MY NON READERS WERE HOOKED AND TOTALLY ENGAGED! GREAT NOVEL FOR ALL READING LEVELS.

Reviewed by Jevaryon Jennings (age 16) for Reader Views (3/08)

All and all, I would have to say that this book is excellent. The storyline is great and there is just enough action so that you enjoy the book at the same time not forgetting the main plot. I would jump at the chance to recommend this book to readers, young and old, although it is written for the younger generation. I would highly suggest that the author James Patterson, would, if not already, continue to write books from this series -- not only from this series but from any other things he has to offer from his imagination. I would rate "Maximum Ride Book #2: School's Out Forever" very high on any scale, so all and all, this book has my approval and I highly recommend that more readers, young and old, take the time to read and appreciate books written by James Patterson.

James Patterson keeps you riveted from the first . The book is very entertaining and quick reading.

Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to fly? Do you like adventure books? If you do then, read Maximum Ride - Schools Out Forever by James Patterson. This book takes you inside Maximum Ride and her flock of six and a dog's life! This book is the second in a series of three. The first is Maximum Ride - Angles Experiment and the third one is Maximum Ride - Back to Saving the World. This series is science fiction.

The six kids Max, Fang, Nudge, Iggy (who is blind), Angel, Gassman and the dog Total were all experimented on in a lab in the first book and given wings except Total who can talk. Somehow they escaped from the lab when they were not supposed to. The erasers, who worked at the lab are chasing the kids and trying to kill or capture them. When ever they get into fights the kids always win because they are stronger and better flyers. In one of the fights, Fang gets hurt and has to go to the hospital. There they meet FBI agent and lived with one named Ann for two months. Then all the erasers came to Ann's house and attacked them, and forced them to leave her house. The voice inside Max's head talks to her throughout the whole book reminding her that her destiny is to save the world. At the end of the book she takes it to heart and flew off with the flock to do it! Overall, I loved the book and would recommend it to anybody, especially people who like action and adventure!

James Patterson's second novel in the Angel series, Maximum Ride: School's Out Forever, is much better than the first one. Patterson is definitely going with a series here, and you can tell. The background to this series is that kids have had different DNA spliced onto normal human DNA, and in the case of the main characters, theirs is avian. These kids have wings and fly. In addition to that, they also discover that they each may have additional "powers," such as telepathy, acute sight, and other heightened senses.

In this novel , the characters are better drawn. I felt that this was due to the fact that Patterson allows the main characters to finally have some downtime, when they are not being chased/hunted by the Erasers (a human/lupine combination that are the warriors/hunters - the bad guys). Max and the rest of her flock actually attend a real school where they interact with normal kids. This time off allows the reader, and Max and Company, to catch our breath. Throughout the first novel, they were constantly running. They do a lot of running and hiding in this novel, but the break is well deserved. For all of us.

That said, you still don't know what this is all leading up to. Max still has a Voice in her head, guiding her, teaching her, talking to her. But who is the Voice? Where does it come from? Another point that was driving me crazy - how do the Erasers know exactly where they are, where they are heading? Do the kids have tracking devices planted in them? Are there spies everywhere? Also, for what purpose were they created? What is going on with these 'visions' that Max keeps having? And Jeb, the Father Figure, what is his role in all of this? Not one of these questions have yet to be answered, and we are on the second novel.

I really hope that Patterson sees fit to answer some of these annoying questions in the next novel. Perhaps he will take some time to read some other authors' serial novels to discover that each can stand on their own. I think that isn't too much to ask - give us some purpose as to reasons why there is an Angel Experiment. As you may guess, I was disappointed by this novel. The title includes "School's Out Forever," which I thought meant that there would be some answers. Not this time.

Even with these issues, it was an enjoyable, fast read. Patterson puts the main characters in some normal circumstances/surroundings; we get to see them interact with other kids their own ages, they date, and the kids get to go to Disney for a day. :-)

In the second book of the Maximum Ride trilogy the kids find themselves going to school for the first time. I think that this book was a little bizzare but good. I think that the author took the erasers to a whole new level of creepy! Max and her gang are all in school and being taken care of by a woman that they met at the hospital. Max and her gang find out that each one of themselves have a new type of power than before. I think that this book is very revealing about Max nd her gang.

The book Maximum Ride School's Out Forever was a very exciting read. The book starts off right where the first book left off. Max, Iggy, Fang, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel are on a quest to find their parents. About a quarter of the way through the book, Iggy finds his family. He soon finds out that they only want him for the publicity that he carries with him. That is because all six kids are human-avian hybrids. This means that they are half bird, half human. I won't give anything else away, but that the book grabs ahold of you and won't let you go. I recommend that when you finish reading this review that you go and get a copy of this book. Enjoy!

The second installment in the Maximum Ride series allows for the characters to grow in a way that wasn't possible in the first. While other reviewers are dissapointed in the lack of beginning-middle-end type of storytelling, it was nice to see these kids get a chance to truly be kids for a while, even if it means they go to school and have Thanksgiving dinner with a shady FBI agent. While this hold over in Virginia doesn't make for the most exciting read, it gives these hard running, hard fighting kids a chance to regain their bearings and focus on the hunt for their birth parents. This was a fast fun read.

Patterson brings back the flock into our lives in their pursuit to understand their history and to save the world! It is better than the first!

Again, I stress that this book's targeted age group is 10 to 15. I do not recommend this book to adults (which I am) for it is too elementary. For teens it is a great read!

Great series, it keeps you guessing how are they going to get out of the next situation and if one of them is a spy. Enjoyed this book as much as the first one in this series.

I'll admit, I enjoyed the first book. It was cute, clever, and I liked the idea. But the second book made me angry due, particularly at one character- Angel. A cute, six-year old girl with pure white wings who can read minds and control minds and breathe underwater and talk to fish that everyone loves. I can no longer read this without wanting to bludgeon this Mary Sue over the head.

Neither Max or Fang are too original either. Max just has an annoying personality, while Fang is the "OMG Dark mysterious pretty boy angst dark angel!!!". Yeah, like that's original.

And don't get me wrong, I loved Iggy, Nudge, and Gazzy... Iggy had a little bit of page time, but the others? Max mentioned in the first book that she spoke all the time, but I can barely remember her. Gazzy is the worst though. As the older brother of Angel, he holds nothing in comparison to her superspeshulness. While Angel can do so many magical things, Gazzy farts. You heard me... infact, his name is literally 'Gasman' while his sister is some Holy Being to the rest of the group!

Don't waste your time on this book unless you like unoriginal characters and Mary Sues.

This is a great series for any age group, and book 2 continues the bird kid's adventures. You can't help but fall in love with Max, Fang, Iggy, Gasman, and Angel. And the dog!! What a hoot! Can't wait to see what happens next.

I found this book to hold my attention throughout. I hated to put it down and found myself continuing reading whenever I had a spare minute. I recommend it for those whose imagination holds no limits and enjoy something out of the ordinary. I plan to get the first book in this series to get the full story behind how things started.

great series, just discovered it and order the newest.
james patterson is amazing, doing different types.
this might be a teen book, and im far from a teen, but i love Max and her friends.

Maximum Ride: School's Out-Forever, by James Patterson, is the 2nd in the Maximum Ride trilogy.

Picking up where The Angel Experiment left off, the flock is still on the run from the "white lab coats" and Erasers. Other than the subplots that existed in the first book, there's no real main plot other than that in this sequel. But there is plenty of teenage angst, chase scenes, and fun use of the kids other special powers. But despite the fact that this book is so similar to the first, it's still an exciting and fun-filled romp. Each of the kids has a distinct personality, each with their own quirks and unique gifts. They are a special family that just can't seem to catch a break. As their purpose of "saving the world" unfolds a little more in this installment, the flock must constantly be on alert and outwit adults and their pursuers.

Though the story doesn't progress very far, School's Out-Forever is still an enjoyable read for teens and adults alike.

I recognize that this book is written for a younger audience, but I thoroughly enjoyed both #1 & this one in the series. However, when I read the third one I was completely disappointed. I really wish I had never gotten started. I'm rating this with 2 stars even though I enjoyed the book because it is part of a series and the conclusion to the series was so lousy I would have wanted to know ahead of time...

NOTE: My rating is due to the conclusion of the series and not this specific book. I'm not saying I didn't like how the author chose to end it - I'm saying that the last book doesn't tie up loose ends and as such leaves you with a "where's the last 50 pages?" feel...

If you're interested in why I disliked #3 so much just click the "see all my reviews" button and look for my review of that book.

I read this installment rather quickly. It was a real page turner. Catching up with the group, and taking it to the next level. Some surprises are around every other page it seemed. I won't really reveal any plot, although at this point, most people have read it several times, at least. I find it a refreshing, exhilerating story. I am eagerly awaiting 3. Patterson writes with a style that keeps readers, well reading. I loved the original adult versions, When The Wind Blows, and the Lake House, but when it reinvented the seris for YA readers, I was impressed with them as well.

I love all the Maximum Ride series and I love all of James Patterson's books. I am an avid reader and love to see what he has in store for his readers next.

I enjoy all of Patterson's books. These books are easy to read. The story held my interest.

Book Review on Maximum Ride- School's Out- Forever
By James Patterson
Released May O6
This book is about six "Avian American" children. This book is the second in a series. The kids were 2% bird and 98% human. The only bird-like things they have are wings. The six kids-Max, Fang, Iggy, Gasman, Nudge, and Angel- have lived in an evil place called The School. The school mutates very young babies (who never knew their family, if they had any family) to have wings. Once you have the wings, you are living like a lab rat for the rest of your life, unless you escape. This series is about the six kids who escape. The main kid is Max. He has to save his "family" and the world. These books show that friends can change into enemies.
Most of the reviews the book received are because of the action and adventure. I would give this book five stars, it is my favorite book ever. It is my favorite book because it is funny, full of action, and suspense. It is an overall very good book. I would recommend this book to anybody that can read 300 page chapter books. Even if you don't like reading, you will love this book. The author of this book (James Patterson) mainly writes adult books. This is the second book (first series) he wrote for younger people.

Zach

Everything is excellent--the timely shipping,the condition of the book,the price, the book itself. C

Does learning ever finish? Do we ever stop learning? so much fun filled fantasy its great to fly away with the kids, Cant wait to read book three..
Nicole (Angelx) Author Rainy Day Poems and more 1 and 2