November 1, 2018
Gr 5-7-Twelve-year-old Simon has a wild imagination: he loves playing video games and reading fantasy novels and is even writing his own book about fairies and a talking dog. When he isn't occupied with those things, he obsesses over aliens. On a camping trip with his parents, Simon loses consciousness; upon waking, he is convinced he has been abducted. But when he tells his parents, his mother is fretful and his father is derisive. Simon is afraid, but determined to find out if the aliens are real. Despite having moved frequently throughout the years, Simon has led a sheltered life. He has few friends, is nervous about leaving the Air Base where he currently lives, and is bullied at school. Parallels between Simon and the main character of the book he is writing further call into question the reality of Simon's experience, leaving readers to wonder about what really happened on that camping trip until the very end. VERDICT An eerie and layered tale with a main character to which young readers will relate, but with a less than satisfactory ending that may spoil the overall effect for some.-Maggie Mason Smith, Clemson University, SC
Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
December 1, 2018
A young boy gets more than he bargained for while researching conspiracy theories about the government and UFOs in Smith's latest.Twelve-year-old, biracial Simon is a quirky kid. He lives on an Air Force base, he reads and writes high fantasy stories, and he believes in aliens. Not just any aliens, but "Grays"--the large-headed, spindly-fingered visitors of Roswell fame. Most of the information that Simon can find is from supposed coverups of the Grays' frighteningly hostile abductions of humans--theories that sound perfectly rational until he says them out loud, especially to his disapproving parents. But theory bleeds into reality when Simon encounters a bright light and a large owl in the woods, leaving him with an odd scar and a jumble of fragmented memories. Simon's parents worry for his mental health as Simon himself spirals in his search for explanations, certain that the Grays are trying to communicate and that their message is not so friendly. A theme of liminality runs through the narrative as Simon's interests, including his own writing, explore the limits of black-or-white human concepts and the gray areas where those binaries break down--gray like invading aliens; both black and white like Simon. A stilted conclusion and unnecessary epilogue propped up by platitudes about special children who can save humanity mar an otherwise terrific alien thrill.A middle-grade X-Files primer, a great ride until it stumbles at the finish line. (Science fiction. 10-13)
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November 15, 2018
Grades 5-7 Smith (Hoodoo, 2015) continues to be one of the most distinct and impressive voices in middle-grade speculative fiction right now. Twelve-year-old Simon's longtime obsession with aliens comes to a head when his parents take him camping over the summer. After a terrifying encounter with an owl leaves him with memory loss and a small, mysterious wound on his stomach, Simon worries that he's been abducted and implanted with an alien tracking device. Peppered with moments of reflection and insight, Simon's piercing narration strikes a delightfully conspiratorial tone as he confides in, and at times speaks directly to, the reader. Smith plants a seed of dread and suspense early on that grows and grows, right up until the very last page. The unexpected ending simultaneously wraps up the story line, leaves the reader satisfied, and furthers the book's propensity to blur genre lines. This is an unassuming, stand-alone story that sneaks up when least expected, and it will be hard to forget.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)
January 1, 2019
All his life, twelve-year-old Simon has lived on Air Force bases, which he believes keeps him safe. He is obsessed with the history of extraterrestrial encounters and believes aliens have made regular contact with humans. When, during a family camping trip, this belief is confirmed in the most terrifying manner, the truth seems too much to bear. His ever-distant father and ill-equipped mother offer little support. After subsequent abductions occur, Simon desperately resists the suggestions and medications of a skeptical psychologist. Escaping into fantasy computer games and his own attempt at writing fantasy, Simon finds some comfort but no resolution to the foreboding nature of his increasingly frequent abductions by aliens. While the novel's ancillary characters are mostly two-dimensional, Simon is well drawn, and his first-person narration sustains the story's strong forward momentum. CSK/Steptoe Award-winning author Smith (Hoodoo, rev. 9/15) crafts a tightly plotted novel full of suspense and compassion with a climax that will chill readers straight to the bone. eric carpenter
(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)