by Pamela F. Service
ages 8-11

Zach is a perfectly normal kid. Good parents, doing well enough at school, a few friends. Except that he’s got this cousin, Ethan, who thinks that he’s an alien. Zach and Ethan had an encounter with a cat — they thought they heard the cat talk — when they were younger, and ever since then Ethan’s been trying to convince everyone that he’s an alien prince from another planet. Zach thinks it’s all nonsense, but he does his best to defend Ethan from the people making fun of him. I should say that he think it’s all nonsense, until Ethan notices two big, fat, ugly, bald guys who are constantly following them. He’s convinced they’re alien bad guys trying to kill him.

The thing is: what if he’s right?

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I started this book, but I know I wasn’t expecting to have as much fun with it as I did. I had a blast. It was quick-paced, fun, and interspersed with comic book-style illustrations, it was something that could engage a reluctant reader as well as entertaining more advanced ones. It even had a bit of a surprise ending (even if I could see it coming…) with a nice twist. And a promise of sequels.

Fun, no?

(Just for the record: because this is a Cybils nominee, I’ve been asked to make sure y’all know this is my opinion only, and not that of the panel.)