This review is for all 10 books in the series. Melinda Metz writes a thoroughly engaging story about teen aliens who are trying to live among humans on earth while FBI and local authorities are on their trail to discover them and eventually whisk them away to a dissection lab.
Max and Isabel Evans, along with friend Michael Guerin are aliens whose spaceship crash landed on earth in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. Incubating in pods for 40 years, the pod squad hatch and somehow manage to make it into foster homes and/or adopted into loving families. The three youngsters are now in high school trying to blend in with the rest of the human kids and doing a fabulous job, until Max decides that he is going to save the life of the girl he loves from a bullet wound, hence blowing his cover. He has the power to heal people and he knows saving Liz's life is the right thing to do even if it puts himself and his friends in danger of being discovered by the sinister sheriff Valenti.
Isabel Evans is Max's sister. She has the power to walk into people's dreams and affect what happens to them. (This is one power I would kill to have!) She is gorgeous, popular and boys are tripping all over themselves to date her. But they are just her playthings--that is, until geeky Alex Manes teaches her the importance of valuing a loving guy no matter who he is.
Michael Guerin is the hot brooder who has been in more foster homes than he can count. His past has toughened him up, making it hard to trust others. The fact that he is also an alien keeps him from forming true frienships outside of Max and Isabel. He has sworn to keep most people at bay, until perky Maria DeLuca gets under his skin and into his heart.
Liz Ortecho is the beautiful Mexican American girl that Max Evans has his eye on. He has been her friend for years but that friendship has evolved into something more serious. When Liz is shot while waiting tables at her parents' cafe, the Crashdown, Max swings into action and not only heals her wound, but plants the seeds of love within her heart.
The Roswell High series is one of the most entertaining YA reads I have perused in a long time. Written in the late 90's, it became the basis of one of the hottest teen TV series of its time, Roswell. Subsequent novels in the series deal with issues ranging from learning to trust others, to falling in love, to making sacrifices, and dealing with danger and tragedy. The books are well written, though sometimes were a little too light on background information, loose ends left incomplete and some overly simplistic details gave them the feeling of being too juvenile. They have earned three and a half to four stars from me and I would recommend these to anyone who enjoys science fiction books, romance or fans of the television series. Excellent for the middle school, early high school reader.