The Angel Experiment: A Life Lesson

Have you ever dreamt of flying? Well these young kids are living the dream, but the only problem is that they are being hunted down by wolves. These two books give three good examples of life lessons that can be learned from the characters throughout the books. The three lessons being, family is a huge part of your life, giving your own time to help someone out even if they are a stranger, and to never give up on a situation.

One of the main lessons Max, the main character, learned is that the five other kids that are apart of Max’s long journal our his family. She could not live without them. Even though they aren’t her actual siblings, they mean the world to her and she would put up a fight to save them. An example of how Max loves her friends that she calls her family: “I live with my family, who are five kids not

related to me by blood, but still totally my family” (Patterson 1). Even though this quote was in the beginning if the book, it was greatly noticed throughout the whole book and especially at the end, for those five where her family and they meant everything to her. The lesson that Max finds out is to never let go of your family. Max was going through one of the most difficult times of her life; she thought she could have never saved her friend that was staying at the school to be tested at. But instead she escaped and is with her family.

Another lesson learned in The Angel Experiment is when Max helped save a young girl named Ella from being bullied and when they were both running away Max got shot in the shoulder.

Ella then brought Max to her house to safety when Ella’s mom noticed she had been shot. As her mom was fixing up her shoulder, Max’s wings came out. Ella’s mother was in complete shock, but then ignored it for she needed to heal Max’s wound fast without having any interruptions. Max was in respite knowing that she will be all right and it did not damage her wing and her ability to fly. Max was speechless that Ella’s mom had taken care of her even for whom she was: “Ella’s mom was taking care of me. I didn’t know how to act, what to say.” (Patterson 107). The lesson being addressed here is that know matter who the person is, if they are in serious trouble or are in need of help, then help them. It will mean the world to them. Like Ella’s mother, she brought Max in when she was in need for help. She noticed her wings but kept working on her wound to help save her from the wolves. If she hadn’t have helped Max she could have maybe even died and got captured by the

wolves.

One final lesson being taught comes from the book Schools Out Forever, when Max is trying to get all five of them, especially Iggy, to get up and go before the cops come get them. The group did not want to go because they didn’t believe they could make it anymore. The group just wanted to give up and be captured. But Max thought otherwise and encouraged them that they can make it through this together: “But if you think I’m going to let you give up on us now, you’ve got another think coming” (Patterson 108). By the text, Max is clearly trying her best to encourage the group to not give up. She wanted to keep going, getting captured would ruin their future. The lesson being addressed in this book is to never give up even if you are in your worst of times. Your journey may be very sinuous, but you can get through it. After there conversation Max finally got them to get up and get going. Later on, they show to never give up and can reflect on the past memories if they ever thought about giving up.

James Patterson included the three good examples of life lessons including that family is a huge part of your life, giving your own time to help someone out even if they are a stranger, and to never give up on a situation. These three lessons fit into the story very well because they are all used throughout the whole book.