A 13 year old African boy named Ariel has just been adopted. He has been through a lot including his whole town being killed, joining a war group, and running away to a refugee camp. As he arrives in America, he meets his new brother, Max. Max and Ariel are the same age and born hours apart. Their father works for a company named Alex Division that just recently figured out how to bring animals back to life. Max and Ariel are sent to a summer camp for teens addicted to electronics even though they are not addicted to electronics. They meet a new friend named Cobie who is just like them. They are stuck at that summer camp for six weeks where they to learn to be friends. Ariel learns a lot about his past and what  the company Alex Division did too him.
I think his purpose was to entertain but Andrew Smith put a lesson into the story.. The lesson is that you can not judge a book by its cover. If you were to look at Ariel you would guess he's a normal person. Ariel had gone through watching his family and town die, living in a orphanage and having to live homelessly for a few weeks. I learned that you can't judge a person until you lived in their shoes.
The Alex Crow's has multiple themes but the main one is adventure. Ariel is always doing something he has never done before. He goes on adventures from fighting for his life to bonding with his brother. I think it was a great book. It kept me wanting more. Every chapter ended on a cliff hanger. It was also very suspenseful some chapters. The book is very bizarre in how the three different characters all crossed paths and affected each other. The book did get a little confusing since there are multiple views being told. There's Ariel in present time telling Max about his past life. There's Ariel telling about the summer camp. There's a historic journal entries talking about the Alex Crow, and there's a view from a insane man driving a truck bomb around. The books connects all these views to make it even more interesting and fun. I would recommend this book to teenagers. I do not like reading books but I could not put this one down. It was a short read because it keeps you wanting more.