Blog post Number 4 (not really)

I am Number Four by Pittacus Loreis a book about an alien race trying to survive and hide from enemies.  There are 18 survivors living on earth.  One kid and one adult to guide the kid.  They cannot be killed unless in the order of the numbers given to them.  3 and their guardians have already been killed.  This story focuses on the fourth.  This book strongly makes me think about trying to blend in in two contexts.   One was Maximum Ride by James Patterson.  I also thought about the connections between SCIFI and teen fiction. 

It's not that easy to hide.  The 9 kids have super speed, strength, and super scenes in general.  It also makes it harder when every time one of them dies the others feel a searing pain as a circular scar is burned into their skin.  In Maximum Ride, the book is focused on winged kids trying to blend in and run from an enemy.  In I am Number Four, its important that HE doesn't let people see his powers and its important that in Maximum Ride that their avian DNA changes don't show.  In Maximum Ride Angel ppretends to be a ballerina and jumps around and practically flies in front of her classmaes because of her hollow bones.  She is scolded for it.  John's hands began to glow and he had to wear gardeners gloves for the whole day.  Hiding is more important than comfort.

So many science fiction books follow the same pattern.  Some sort of main character with either superpowers or some sort of thing that makes them different from "normal" human is trying not to stand out.  That's the same way in teen fiction.  An outcast kid is picked on by the bully or enemy and tries really hard to blend in.  He/she shouldn't let love or anger get in the way.  In I am Number Four John needs to pick his battles and not let anyone know his strength.  In some teen fiction, the kid just doesn't want to get into fights.  John also has to be careful who he falls in love with because that could lead to him telling her secrets and his death.  In other books it could give the main character a black eye.  SCIFI and teen fiction are basically the same, just geared to different audiences.  
   
I am Number Four is a book that popped many thoughts into my head.  They all were text to text connections.  In a way all books are built from each other.  An author might read a book and like a section so they make that part their own.  In that way a book may be very similar to another.  Still, there are so many books about bullies in every genre from SCIFI to historical fiction to teen fiction that It ,ales me wonder how books can carry similar plots but stil be original and hard to predict..