From School Library Journal
ea. vol: (Out of This World Series). Archway. Mar. 1986. pap. LC number unavailable. Grade 6 Up In this new series, Max comes to Earth from her planet of conformity and nonemotion to learn about being human. In Max in Love, Max decides she wants to experience love and sets her sights on Chad, the leader of a local rock band. He is supposed to be an arrogant jerk, but no teen musicianunless he worked at an airport loungewould claim to play punk, new wave, and disco. One of the messages that comes through in this book is "nice girls don't." In Max on Fire, Max starts school and has to deal with being ridiculed for not adhering to the preppy norm. Riverside High learns in the end that it's all right to express individuality. The humor in these books is based on Max's naive and literal interpretation of popular culture. She gets her ideas of love from romance novels and Cosmopolitan. The irony is that when Randi, the teenager with whom she lives, tries to set her straight about reality, readers realize that Randi's squeaky-clean philosophy is not reality either. The full potential of the situation is never really explored, but it's a clever idea that produces enjoyable fluff despite the flaws that come with the territorycliched characters and language and predictable plotting. Readers will care about Max, and the situations are resolved satisfactorily. Almostand earlyteens with an idealized view of teen life will gobble these up. Annette Curtis Klause, Montgomery County Libraries, Md.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
