Roswell High
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Roswell High is a young adults' book series written by Melinda Metz and published by Pocket Books. The 10-book series chronicles the adventures of 3 teen aliens and their human friends, who attend the fictional Ulysses F. Olsen High in Roswell, New Mexico. The Roswell High books served as inspiration for the television series Roswell (1999-2002), also known as Roswell High in some countries, which in turn spawned a number of spin-off books of its own.
Contents |
[edit] Basic premise
Max Evans, sister Isabel Evans, and their friend Michael are survivors of the 1947 UFO crash known as the Roswell Incident. They are from the planet Antar. Upon emerging from pods, they had appeared to be 7 year old orphaned humans. Max and Isabel were adopted by a loving pair of attorneys, the Evans. Michael entered the foster care system, bouncing from household to household.
The aliens have special powers, including the ability to:
- rearrange molecules (changing objects, healing injuries)
- "dreamwalk" (observe, participate in, and manipulate others' dreams)
- sense each others' emotions from afar
- create psychic connections that allow one person to see into another's mind
- perceive colorful halos or auras around humans which indicate emotional state
Max, Isabel, and Michael have successfully kept their true nature a secret for a decade. The series begins with the accidental shooting of Liz Ortecho, a human friend of Max's. He cannot bear to see her die, and risks bringing attention to himself when he uses his powers to save her life. Liz soon is brought in on the secret, as are her friends Maria DeLuca and Alex Manes. The 6 teens learn to trust each other and bond. Max and Liz gradually fall in love. Together the group fends off the suspicions of law enforcement, alien hunters, and Liz's jealous ex-boyfriend while seeking clues about the aliens' origins.
[edit] Aura Colors
Max - emerald green
Isabel - royal purple
Michael - brick red
Liz - amber
Maria - crystal blue
Alex - screaming orange
Nikolas - gold
[edit] Authorship
Although Metz is credited as the series' author, she has frequently noted that it was a collaborative effort for which she was contracted. As she described in an online interview:
- "Pocket Books, the publisher, came up with the core idea. They wanted a series called "Roswell High." They turned it over to a book packager to develop. My friend (who has now been my writing partner for a bunch of years) Laura Burns, fleshed out the basic story arc for the first six books. Then several writers were asked to write the scene where Max heals Liz as a sample. (I was completely hooked by the concept of the series. I was dying for the job!) I added new things, like that Max would get those flashes of Liz's life from her and that silver handprint, and I was ultimately chosen as the author. Then Laura and I worked together to develop the series even further." [1]
[edit] Books
- The Outsider [ISBN 0-671-77466-2]
- The Wild One
- The Seeker
- The Watcher
- The Intruder
- The Stowaway
- The Vanished
- The Rebel
- The Dark One
- The Salvation
[edit] Characters
- Trevor, Michael's brother; came to Earth to assist Elsevan DuPris' resistance against the ruling powers of their homeworld, initially betraying his brother but later saving them from DuPris (appears in books 8, 9 and 10)
- Adam, fifth pod alien; raised in captivity of the Blank Slate compound, calls Sheriff Valenti "Daddy" (appears in books 5, 6, and 7)
- Nikolas Branson, fourth alien; Isabel's boyfriend, considers humans to be insects (appears in book 2)
- Maria DeLuca, Liz's best friend since childhood; human
- Elsevan DuPris, green hair, oily attitude; once thought of as the editor of "The Astral Projector" he is actually an evil alien
- Max Evans, a senior; tall, blond, blue-eyed; alien
- Isabel Evans, a junior; cheerleader; tall, blonde, blue-eyed; alien
- Michael Guerin; black and spikey hair, gray eyes; alien
- Ray Iburg, manager of the UFO Museum, secretly alien (appears in books 2, 3, and 4)
- Alex Manes, Liz and Maria's best friend since a year; red-hair; human
- Liz Ortecho, a senior and Max's Biology class lab partner; of Spanish descent; long, dark hair; human
- Kyle Valenti, the sheriff's son whom Liz went out with on one date; human
- Sheriff Valenti, alien hunter for the top secret Project Clean Slate; human
- Cameron Whinger, runaway redhead hired by Valenti to obtain information from Michael (appears in books 5 and 6)
[edit] References
- Roswell High Books Gallery (retrieved July 25, 2005)
