There are some benefits to being up at 6 a.m. - the sunrise. Looks like another hot one on the way but it is sunny and cool still at 6:30.

Although I am not thrilled to death with Patterson's writing style in Maximum Ride I can't help but like Max. She chose her own last name, Ride, after Sally Ride the astronaut. Lots of talk in the book about how bird DNA has altered their bone structure so it is light and hollow. Made me think of The Fast and Brutal Wing by Johnson. The other shape shifting YA novels that come to mind with predatory type bird shifts is Owl in Love by Kindl (one of my favorites from a few years ago - she falls in love with her teacher) and The Other Ones by Thesman. Thesman's main character is a teenage witch who isn't too keen on her powers until she realizes she can save a shapeshifter and a lonely boy with them. It is interesting that the shifts seem to be into predatory birds. Wonder why no one shapeshifts into a parrot or a sparrow? Probably because they could be food for a predator and there goes your main character!

Off to the library for the day.