Alien abduction -- Juvenile fiction. |
Extraterrestrial beings -- Juvenile fiction. |
Families -- Juvenile fiction |
Children of military personnel -- Juvenile fiction. |
Military bases -- Juvenile fiction. |
Racially mixed people -- Juvenile fiction. |
Science fiction. |
Abduction of humans by aliens |
Alien abductions |
Alien kidnapping |
Close encounters of the fourth kind |
Extraterrestrial abduction |
UFO abduction |
Alien beings (Extraterrestrials) |
Aliens (Extraterrestrial beings) |
Extraterrestrial intelligence |
Extraterrestrials |
Military children |
Army posts |
Bases, Military |
Military facilities |
Military installations |
Military posts |
Military stations |
Posts, Military |
Stations, Military |
Bi-racial people |
Biracial people |
Interracial people |
Mixed race people |
Mixed-racial people |
Mulattoes |
Multiracial people |
Peoples of mixed descent |
Available:
Library | Shelf Number | Shelf Location | Status |
---|---|---|---|
Searching... Plainville Public Library | J SMI | CHILDREN FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Elizabeth Taber Library | J SMI | CHILDREN FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Holmes Public Library | J SMI | CHILDREN FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... New Bedford Free Public Library | J FIC SMITH | CHILDREN FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Rehoboth - Blanding Free PL | J FIC SMITH, R. | CHILDREN FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Taunton Public Library | J FIC SMITH | CHILDRENS ROOM | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... West Bridgewater PL | J SMITH, RONALD | CHILDREN FICTION | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
In this delightfully creepy novel from Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award winner Ronald L. Smith, twelve-year-old Simon thinks he was abducted by aliens. But is it real, or just his over-active imagination? Perfect for fans of Mary Downing Hahn and Louis Sachar.
Twelve-year-old Simon is obsessed with aliens. The ones who take people and do experiments. When he's too worried about them to sleep, he listens to the owls hoot outside. Owls that have the same eyes as aliens--dark and foreboding.
Then something strange happens on a camping trip, and Simon begins to suspect he's been abducted. But is it real, or just the overactive imagination of a kid who loves fantasy and role-playing games and is the target of bullies and his father's scorn?
Even readers who don't believe in UFOs will relate to the universal kid feeling of not being taken seriously by adults that deepens this deliciously scary tale.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
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. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
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 novels ancillary characters are mostly two-dimensional, Simon is well drawn, and his first-person narration sustains the storys strong forward momentum. CSK/Steptoe Awardwinning 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 January/February 2019 p 104(c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
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 humanstheories 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 downgray 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) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
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.--Caitlin Kling Copyright 2018 Booklist