Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Scholastic Press (2011), Hardcover, 160 pages
Description
A startling novel about the true meaning of being an alien in an equally alien world.
User reviews
LibraryThing member richardderus
Rating: 2* of five
The Publisher Says: A startling, wonderful novel about the true meaning of being an alien in an equally alien world.
"We are specks. Pieces of dust in this universe. Big nothings.
"I know what I am."
My Review: Mal lives on the fringes of high school. Angry. Misunderstood. Yet
Then he meets Hooper. Who says he's from another planet. And may be going home very soon.
Seventeen-year-old narrator has teen angst over his alcoholic mother, his deserter dad, and his sense of life's futility, believes he's an alien abductee, and then meets an actual alien. Or just a wacko homeless dude. See, the alien/wacko joined the kid's alien contactee group. assuming this meant that the participants could get him a ride home as his ship was irreparably damaged on entry into Earth's atmosphere.
Where the ship is, no one asks. Why he has no help beacon, no one asks. But I anticipate.
Then one day, alien dude gets word that someone will pick him up if he'll meet them out in the California desert, not that far from where the action takes place. Narrator dude (if we're ever told his name, I've forgotten it) drives alien dude into the desert, wagging along a couple of misfit non-friends.
Alien dude *is* an alien, and will even take narrator dude away with him, but because the girl misfit showed narrator dude her tits he decides to stay on earth. The end.
I hated this book from p4 on. At that point in the narrative, the kid is in the shower room with a bunch of guys who don't like him, gets called gay, and muses that "being gay might be better" than being what he is: Unpopular and miserable.
You lost me, lady. You've used The Dreaded Gay as your point of reference for baseline badness. Now, the book is a YA book, so one doesn't necessarily expect narrative refinement from it, but this sloppy and cheap trick is an automatic fail.
Why no one wonders what happened to the ship that delivered alien dude to earth is beyond me. If it was totally destroyed, why wasn't he? Why, when narrator dude was wavering about the alien dude's truthfulness, didn't alien dude just take him to the ship's remains? Or show him the communications device he gets contacted on? By the time narrator dude decides to believe him, that's when he gets this ultrasupercool sounding star chart, which for some reason isn't mentioned but twice, and exactly never does it occur to narrator dude to take it to the SETI people and sell it for oodles of money, despite the fact that there are 27 intelligent species marked on the map. For that matter, what kind of BLITHERING IDIOT is the alien dude for giving such a thing to an Earthling?!
So from distasteful homophobia to disrespectful mishandling of SF's sacred tropes, this book gets a "boo hiss" from my green reptilian lips.
The Publisher Says: A startling, wonderful novel about the true meaning of being an alien in an equally alien world.
"We are specks. Pieces of dust in this universe. Big nothings.
"I know what I am."
My Review: Mal lives on the fringes of high school. Angry. Misunderstood. Yet
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loving the world -- or, at least, an idea of the world. Then he meets Hooper. Who says he's from another planet. And may be going home very soon.
Seventeen-year-old narrator has teen angst over his alcoholic mother, his deserter dad, and his sense of life's futility, believes he's an alien abductee, and then meets an actual alien. Or just a wacko homeless dude. See, the alien/wacko joined the kid's alien contactee group. assuming this meant that the participants could get him a ride home as his ship was irreparably damaged on entry into Earth's atmosphere.
Where the ship is, no one asks. Why he has no help beacon, no one asks. But I anticipate.
Then one day, alien dude gets word that someone will pick him up if he'll meet them out in the California desert, not that far from where the action takes place. Narrator dude (if we're ever told his name, I've forgotten it) drives alien dude into the desert, wagging along a couple of misfit non-friends.
Alien dude *is* an alien, and will even take narrator dude away with him, but because the girl misfit showed narrator dude her tits he decides to stay on earth. The end.
I hated this book from p4 on. At that point in the narrative, the kid is in the shower room with a bunch of guys who don't like him, gets called gay, and muses that "being gay might be better" than being what he is: Unpopular and miserable.
You lost me, lady. You've used The Dreaded Gay as your point of reference for baseline badness. Now, the book is a YA book, so one doesn't necessarily expect narrative refinement from it, but this sloppy and cheap trick is an automatic fail.
Why no one wonders what happened to the ship that delivered alien dude to earth is beyond me. If it was totally destroyed, why wasn't he? Why, when narrator dude was wavering about the alien dude's truthfulness, didn't alien dude just take him to the ship's remains? Or show him the communications device he gets contacted on? By the time narrator dude decides to believe him, that's when he gets this ultrasupercool sounding star chart, which for some reason isn't mentioned but twice, and exactly never does it occur to narrator dude to take it to the SETI people and sell it for oodles of money, despite the fact that there are 27 intelligent species marked on the map. For that matter, what kind of BLITHERING IDIOT is the alien dude for giving such a thing to an Earthling?!
So from distasteful homophobia to disrespectful mishandling of SF's sacred tropes, this book gets a "boo hiss" from my green reptilian lips.
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LibraryThing member rosstrowbridge
I've long thought that one reason we love stories about aliens (or sentient nonhuman creatures) is that at one time or another, we've all felt like aliens ourselves. I know I have, and I'll bet that just about everyone who's survived adolescence has, too. (The "just about" is a hedge in case there
Cecil Castellucci takes that experience and whirls it around in a blender with the mythos of alien abduction and a protagonist who's not only smart but has to face a whole lot more than many of us. Mal's the kid with the greasy hair, slumped in the last row of seats in class, the kid you're afraid to talk to. He's got secrets, too. Years ago, he disappeared, but whether those missing three days were a "breakdown" or an alien abduction, even Mal isn't sure. His alcoholic mom lives right on the edge.
How far away from here is far enough? Mal asks. How far away would I be willing to go?
Light-years.
The characters are uncompromising, the prose cuts right to the core, and I devoured the book in one sitting. Not just for teens, First Day on Earth is both gritty and lyrical, subtle and over-the-top. It shows with poignant eloquence how the symbols and tropes of speculative fiction can convey our deepest human experiences.
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are, somewhere in the world, people who just sailed through; I'm willing to allow for the possibility, even if I don't know any of them.)Cecil Castellucci takes that experience and whirls it around in a blender with the mythos of alien abduction and a protagonist who's not only smart but has to face a whole lot more than many of us. Mal's the kid with the greasy hair, slumped in the last row of seats in class, the kid you're afraid to talk to. He's got secrets, too. Years ago, he disappeared, but whether those missing three days were a "breakdown" or an alien abduction, even Mal isn't sure. His alcoholic mom lives right on the edge.
How far away from here is far enough? Mal asks. How far away would I be willing to go?
Light-years.
The characters are uncompromising, the prose cuts right to the core, and I devoured the book in one sitting. Not just for teens, First Day on Earth is both gritty and lyrical, subtle and over-the-top. It shows with poignant eloquence how the symbols and tropes of speculative fiction can convey our deepest human experiences.
Show Less
LibraryThing member lilibrarian
Mal has few friends, and none he has told of being abducted by aliens. His father walked out; his mom is an alcoholic. Then, in a group for alien abductees, he meets Hooper who claims to be an alien himself.
LibraryThing member abbylibrarian
Told in spare, poetic prose, this is the story of an outsider, Mal, who is feeling so much pain that he's willing to give up everything to make it stop. Or is he?
LibraryThing member mountie9
The Good Stuff
Sensitively and beautifully written
Incredibly well drawn and believable characters who develop so well - especially brilliant considering this is such a short quick read
Cecil is extremely talented at setting the mood and landscape of the story.
One of the shortest most outstanding
Hopeful and honest
Truly unique and thought provoking - would love to discuss this with others
Author really understands the struggle of a kid who is just a little bit different
Nice spots of humour thrown in (Saves it from being too dark)
The Not So Good Stuff
Would have liked more, but hey I'm just being selfish
Favorite Quotes/ Passages
"She is so sure of herself. How did she ever get that way? Does she wake up with sunshine and rainbows streaming through her windows? Does she smile so naturally because everything is so good? Because she sleeps like she's an enchanted fairy-tale princess? Must be. No other explanation"
"Here's the thing with the moon. You can still see it. Mars? Too recognizable. Jupiter is too stormy and everyone is always looking at Saturn's rings. Maybe Neptune. No one ever knows when Neptune is around. It just sits in the sky, disguised as a star."
"I do like they do. I go back to reading.
Always solace in a book.
Always silence in there."
Who Should/Shouldn't Read
Perfect for a reluctant reader
Would be a fantastic book for a class discussion
This would be appreciated for those readers who have felt a little outside of the crowd
4.75 Dewey's
I received this from Scholastic in Exchange for an Honest Review - thanks guys I will keeping this one for Jake
Sensitively and beautifully written
Incredibly well drawn and believable characters who develop so well - especially brilliant considering this is such a short quick read
Cecil is extremely talented at setting the mood and landscape of the story.
One of the shortest most outstanding
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pieces of YA I have ever read - will really speak to those who have felt like an "alien" while growing upHopeful and honest
Truly unique and thought provoking - would love to discuss this with others
Author really understands the struggle of a kid who is just a little bit different
Nice spots of humour thrown in (Saves it from being too dark)
The Not So Good Stuff
Would have liked more, but hey I'm just being selfish
Favorite Quotes/ Passages
"She is so sure of herself. How did she ever get that way? Does she wake up with sunshine and rainbows streaming through her windows? Does she smile so naturally because everything is so good? Because she sleeps like she's an enchanted fairy-tale princess? Must be. No other explanation"
"Here's the thing with the moon. You can still see it. Mars? Too recognizable. Jupiter is too stormy and everyone is always looking at Saturn's rings. Maybe Neptune. No one ever knows when Neptune is around. It just sits in the sky, disguised as a star."
"I do like they do. I go back to reading.
Always solace in a book.
Always silence in there."
Who Should/Shouldn't Read
Perfect for a reluctant reader
Would be a fantastic book for a class discussion
This would be appreciated for those readers who have felt a little outside of the crowd
4.75 Dewey's
I received this from Scholastic in Exchange for an Honest Review - thanks guys I will keeping this one for Jake
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LibraryThing member akmargie
Her writing isn't anything crazy or stupendous but I love it's honestly and unflinching reality. Quick read but really dense and emotional.
LibraryThing member TeamDewey
Very different, not sure what to think about it or how to really review. Is it really about alien and alien abduction? Or is it about feeling alien in school?
LibraryThing member TeamDewey
Strange little book. Not sure what it wants to be.
Older teens.
What makes someone an alien? In high school there could be many answers.
Older teens.
What makes someone an alien? In high school there could be many answers.
Awards
White Pine Award (Nominee — Fiction — 2013)
CCBC Choices (2012)
Physical description
160 p.; 8.5 inches
ISBN
0545060826 / 9780545060820
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