Books With Bean ~ Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25

Title: Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25

Author: Richard Paul Evans

Published: 2011

Genre: Young Adult/Sci-Fi

Summary: Michel Vey is small in stature, only an average student at school and after moving around a lot as a kid has found it hard to make friends at school. On top of all that he has Tourette's syndrome, his face twitches and he can’t control it. All of which make him the perfect target for bullies at school. But there is one thing the bullies don't know: Michael is electric, far more electric then the normal human and if the bullies knew the power he could produce they would think twice about picking on him. Unfortunately, Michael’s mom has told him that this power must remain a secret so getting picked on is just another day at school. One day, however, he finds out from Taylor (the best looking girl at school) that he might not be the only one with electric powers. She can do things that no one else can with the electricity in peoples’ minds. They (along with Michael’s best and only friend Ostin) start to wonder how this is possible and in the process find out that there are other kids that might have powers like theirs. They also learn that they and the other electrically powered teens like them are being hunted by the Elgen corporation that was responsible for making them the way they are. Michael doesn’t care about the power the corporation might offer him and he doesn’t care for the fame either. All he knows is the corporation kidnaped his Mom and Taylor, and he wants to get them back. Teaming up with Jack and Wade, two of the former bullies, Michael and Ostin travel from Idaho to California to try and rescue his Mom and Taylor, only to find out that everything is a lot more complicated and deeper then they originally thought.

What I liked about it: I liked the characters and the setting. By the end of the first book I was wondering what would happen next and was left waiting for the second book. The characters are cool and for the electric ones their powers seemed plausible instead of just wacky and unrealistic. 

I will say that anyone starting the series now is kind of lucky. When I first learned of them when I was 11, only the first book was out so I had to wait a year between each book to find out what happened next. However, the last book came out this year so new readers don't have to worry about that.

Language: Hardly any and the little bit that is there is very mild, which is refreshing after reading a lot of YA books recently that seemed to have a lot of swearing in them.

Romance: Michael has a crush on Taylor and they become boyfriend and girlfriend over the series and several other characters start having this sort of relationship as well but the romance is kept to hugs and the occasional kiss. 

Violence: People get shot at and injured in other ways and over the course of the series one kind of major character and several random guards die, but it is not graphic. Starting in the second book you learn more about how the Elgen Corporation make their electrical power. They electrify rats using the machine that originally made the teens electric. The main villain Dr. Hatch is a little crazy and his favorite punishment for disloyal guards is to feed them to the rats instead of the rats’ normal meals of fish or beef. This is a bit more gross/graphic then most points in the rest of the series so I thought I would inform you of it now. 

Magic: None

Recommended Age: Michael and most of his friends are  14 when the book starts but turn 15 near the beginning of the book and the book itself is very clean in my opinion compared to most Young Adult books written theses days so I would say 13+ is an okay age to start reading these.