aliens

The Bones Beneath My Skin

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by TJ Klune
First sentence: “He sang along with the radio.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: February 4, 2025
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs; lots of violence; and on-screen sex. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

The thing I have come to believe, after having read 8 of the 11 books Klune has published (I didn’t finish the werewolf series), is that he is deeply interested in Humanity and how we express our humanness. In many cases he has hope: his characters are always flawed, but somehow they find their way to a Better World. Mostly that world is through found family because many of the humans in Klune’s books suck and are terrible people. But that’s the way of the world, isn’t it? We are lost souls, surrounded by people who want to stop us, hurt us, reject us, and yet we find our People and Make It Through and somehow find Happiness.

This one – even though it’s a republished book that Klune wrote in 2018 – is no different. The setting is different: It’s 1995 and Nate has just been fired from his job at the Washington Post. His parents have also died – it was a murder-suicide – and left him the family cabin in a remote part of Oregon. So, he heads out there and discovers two people – a man and a girl – in his cabin. He doesn’t kick them out., and that decision changes his life forever.

That’s the basic plot without giving too much away. (Saying it’s Stranger Things meets Close Encounters of the Third Kind but gay would be a decent elevator pitch.) It’s a good book – I think his later books are better, but that’s not to say this isn’t good – but it’s a weird one. I don’t think this one is going to be for everyone. It’s also coming on the heels of Somewhere Beyond the Sea, which is amazing, so there’s a lot to live up to. But if you’ve committed to reading everything Klune writes (and why haven’t you?) then it’s a good one. It’s more action-packed and less ruminative than his other books, but there are still quirky-charming characters and a love story at the center of it. It’s about finding family and home and happiness, and who doesn’t want to read about that?

So, while it’s not my favorite one of Klune’s books, it’s still a good one.

Simon Sort of Says

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by Erin Bow
First sentence: “People are always asking why my family came to the National Quiet Zone.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is mention of school shootings, trauma, and anxiety. It’s in the Middle-Grades section (grades 3-5) of the bookstore.

Simon O’Keeffe – the son of a Catholic deacon and an undertaker – has told a lot of stories about why his family moved to the National Quiet Zone, but none of them the real one: he’s the only survivor of a school shooting in Omaha, and his family needed to get away from everything. This is possible in a town where most electronics have been banned so that scientists can hear possible messages from space. This is only important because one of Simon’s new friends – Agate – wants to fake a message from aliens, so that the mom of another friend – Kevin – will feel a sense of accomplishment. That’s the idea, anyway. What this book is really about is the process of healing from trauma and coming to accept what has happened.

Oh this book was a delight. Funny – it genuinely made me laugh in spots – irreverant (Jesus Squirrel!), but heartfelt and hopeful. Yes, Bow deals with difficult subjects, but she does so in a way that is age-appropriate. I’m not entirely sure that Kevin’s helicopter scientist white mom and laid-back Filipino dad weren’t stereotypes, which is a downside. And the book was very white – it is a small town in Nebraska, but still. Otherwise, though, it’s a delight of a book to read.

Aurora’s End

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by aie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
First sentence: “I am rarely surprised.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Aurora Rising, Aurora Burning
Content: There is some mild swearing, illusions to sex, and a lot more f-bombs than in the previous two books. They’re still in the YA section (grades 6-8) though maybe they should get moved?

Things I loved about the book:

The tagline on the cover. It really is about time. And Kaufman and Kristoff play with it so well.

The way all the pieces fit together, and the characters learned and grew and it just worked.

The fact that a bawled for the last s00 pages or so. They made me care about these characters and their fates and man, it was all just so satisfying.

I can’t wait to see what these two do together next They just create pure gold.

Audio book: Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything

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by Raquel Vasquez Gillliland
narrated by Inés del Castillo
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There’s swearing, including many f-bombs and description of sexual assault as well as almost-sex. It’s in the Teen section (grades 9+) of the bookstore.

It’s been three years since Sia’s mom disappeared in an ICE raid that sent her back to Mexico, a place where she had never been, having been brought to the US by her mother when she was young. Sia’s mom since disappeared, and was presumed to be dead. By everyone. So, for three years, Sia has been harboring grudge and aching for revenge on the sheriff who turned her mother in.

And… here’s where everything gets a little weird. I was enjoying this book about a girl who was dealing with her mother’s death, with the inherent racism in her town, with trying to keep her best friend together, with liking a new boy who just happens to turn out to be the estranged son of the sheriff. And then the book slants sideways and there are aliens? An Sia’s mom is not dead, but instead has spent the past three years being tested on in a secret government conspiracy? And it took half the book to get there?

I don’t know. I wanted to like this one more than I did. I adored the narrator; I think, in the end, she is what kept me listening (that, and I wanted to see just how far this alien thing would go) because I was annoyed. Annoyed that the jacket blurb gave away the aliens. Annoyed that they didn’t show up until halfway, and yet were so vital to the plot. Annoyed because it was a good book about a girl who was dealing with grief and loss and moving on, and all of a sudden: ALIENS AND YOUR MOM ISN’T DEAD.

I know there are people out there who liked this one. I’m just not one of them.

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

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by Hank Green
First sentence: “
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Spoilers for the first book, obviously.

April has died in a fire, Carl has disappeared, and the world is trying to recover. Mostly April’s friends — Maya, Miranda, and Andy — are trying to move on. And they each do in their way. That is, until they start getting a mysterious book that is telling them what to do. And from there, the plot gets really really complicated and it’s so much better not knowing too much.

And, much like the first book, this one is about more than just humans vs. alien robots. It’s about collective action, and free-will. It’s about whether or not we can stop ourselves from destroying the earth. It’s about friendship and trust and forgiveness.

And, much like the first book, it’s a delight to read. It’s fun, it’s funny, it’s pretentious but not overly-so, and I think Green knows (and has thought long and hard) what he’s talking about. It’s a fun romp, and a good conclusion to the story, but it’s also a thoughtful book with a lot to discuss.

Or maybe I just really like the Green brothers. Either way: it’s a good read.

Aurora Burning

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by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
First sentence: “The disruptor blast hits the Betraskan right in her chest.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Aurora Rising
Content: There is mild swearing, including three (very well placed) f-bombs. There is some alluding to sex but none actual.

Spoilers for the first book, obviously.

So the team of seven is down to six, their pilot, Cat, falling victim to the ancient and terrible enemy Ra’haaam, who absorbed her consciousness into their own. They’re wanted by the Terran Defense force and the GIA, which has been infiltrated by the Ra’haam, even if the rest of the ‘Way doesn’t know it. But, they discover the Hadfield, the ship Aurora was on before Tyler rescued her, and Squad 312 decides to go after it. The only problem: Kal’s sister Saedii is after them, and she’s got a whole Syldrathi army at her beck and call.

This is very much a middle book in a series: it’s a lot of moving the plot forward, but also setting up the Big Climax that will happen in the final book. Aurora learns more about her powers, we learn more about the Squad (including several shocking revelations). They become more of a unit even as the book is tearing them apat.

Which is one thing I can say about Kaufman and Kristoff: nothing is off limits for them. I think it was Kristoff who said, if there sin’t any stakes, the conflict doesn’t work. There ARE stakes in this. Not just big, life-changing ones, but smaller ones as well. And they balance the multiple and changing narrating perspectives quite admirably.

It’s an excellent, page-turning series. Even if I have to wait to read the third one.

Aurora Rising

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by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
First sentence: “I’m gonna miss the Draft.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is a lot of violence and some mild swearing. It’s in the YA section (grades 6-8) of the bookstore.

I have this friend who adores long and intricate books, and who is also a big fan of Kaufman and Kristoff. I (finally) read Illuminae series on her recommendation, and she pointed me in the direction of these. I didn’t get around to reading them, though, until I saw that Kaufman and Kristoff were doing a read-along on Instagram during the quarantine, and I figured now was as good a time as any.

It’s the far future, and Earth — Terra — has branched out into space, discovering new world and forming alliances with new species. The inter-planetary diplomatic corps is the Aurora Legion, to which six of our seven main characters belong. There are different paths in the Aurora Academy, and the six of them come together to form a squad: Tyler, is their leader; his twin, Scarlett, is the diplomatic Face; Cat is their pilot; Zila is their science brain; and two aliens — Finian, a Betraskin, is their tech; and Kal is their Syldrathi weapons and tactical man. The seventh character is Aurora, a Terran girl that Tyler rescues from the Fold (it’s the way they space travel in this world), who sets in motion the events of the book.

And it’s a ride! The chapters alternate in viewpoint between the seven characters (I adore Zila’s chapters; they’re often less than a page, but that says SO much about her personality), and help the reader get to know each person while advancing the winding, twisting (in all the good ways) plot.

Yes, it’s the first in a trilogy, and yes, I am invested in these characters and the conflict that they have put themselves in the middle of. It’s a crazy, wild, fun ride, and I can’t wait to see where Kaufman and Kristoff take me next.

Gemina

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by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
First sentence: “… over seven hundred thousand employees across dozens of colonized worlds.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Illuminae
Content: All the swear words are blacked out, but there’s a lot of violence and some drug use. It’s in the Teen section (grades 9+) of the bookstore.

Spoilers for the first one, probably.

The nice thing about not reading a series when it first comes out is that you can read them all one right after another. And I remember what happens! That said, Gemina is part of the whole story, and picks up where we left off, but it also it’s own thing.

It’s the space station Heimdall, and everything is going lovely for Hannah and her boyfriend Jackson for their Terra Day plans. She’s got a super cute outfit, she’s about to pick up some dust to make the party super lit. Except, while she’s on her way, the station is attacked by an elite crew of 24 “auditors” (read: assassins) from BeiTech corp, who is still trying to cover up their attack on Kerenza. They have orders to take over Heimdall and open up the wormhole before any survivors reach the jump station.

(There’s a bit of a gap here: how did BeiTech know that there were survivors from the Kerenza attack?)

Anyway. The assassins capture the station, kill the commander (who happens to be Hannah’s dad), and take over. But, a few people Hannah and her drug dealer, Nik, and Nik’s cousin Ella, who’s a hacker, are left on the outside to stop the assassins from completely taking over.

I wondered how this would go over in print, since I adored it so much in audio. And it’s fabulous. I’m amazed that Kauffman and Kristoff could put so much into just documents, text streams, and illustrations, but they do! (since this one is so heavily illustrated, I wonder how it is in audio?) It never got tedious, I adored the reveals as they happened, and I was never too far ahead of the characters. I figured something out, and by the next page, the characters were there as well. It’s quite brilliantly plotted. And they do tension SO very well. I kept having to take breaks as I read because it would just get too much for me to handle. So very very good.

And yes, I’ve got the third already checked out, so I can see how this story ends.

We’re Not From Here

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by Geoff Rodkey
First sentence: “The first time I heard anything about Planet Choom, we’d been on Mars for almost a year.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the author.
Release date: March 5, 2019
Content: There are some possibly scary situations, but Rodkey knows his audience, and the book is neither too long or too complex. It will be in the middle grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Lan and his family are part of the last of the human race, the part that escaped to Mars when the Earth dissolved into a nuclear holocaust that made the planet uninhabitable. They’re also the part of the human race that decided to take a chance on the offer of asylum from the Planet Choom — a planet full of insect-like creatures, as well as small wolf-like creatures and marshmallow-like creatures — and take up residence there.

However, when they get out of biostasis and arrive at Choom, they’ve discovered that the government is now against the humans settling there and they want them all to just leave. Except the humans don’t have anywhere to go. So the Choom government — which is run by the insect-like creatures — allows Lan’s family to come down on a trial basis. Which means they’re the sole representatives for the human race and whatever they do the entire race will be judged on it.

If you haven’t gotten the allegory that Rodkey is telling here, let me spell it out (mostly because I knew it going in, and it was quite obvious to me): he’s exploring — in a way that is accessible to kids — the idea of immigration and the idea of being the “other”. And since he can’t write an #ownvoices book, he’s doing it the only way he can: through science fiction. As far as an allegory goes, it’s excellent: it allows the reader to feel how it is to be “alien”, even if they (I’m white and while I’ve felt like an outsider, I’ve never really felt “alien”) are not. But, on top of that, it’s fun to read, it’s got great characters (#TeamMarf all the way! She’s brilliant!) and it’s got a good heart at the center of it. It’s quite probably Rodkey’s best work so far.

And it’s definitely one worth reading!

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

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by Hank Green
First sentence: “Look, I am aware that you’re here for an epic tale of intrigue and mystery and adventure and near death and actual death, but in order to get to that (unless you want to skip to chapter 13–I’m not your boss) you’re going to have to deal with the fact that I, April May, in addition to being one of the most important things that has ever happened to the human race, am also a woman in her twenties who has made some mistakes.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There’s a lot of swearing, including multiple f-bombs. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore, but a high school student who was interested could definitely read this one.

April May is just living her life — and not really her best one, at all — when she stumbles upon a… thing… in Manhattan at three a.m. She has enough presence of mind to grab her filmmaker friend and upload a video about the phenomenon that will come to be known as The Carls, which shoots April into the world of the famous. She  is at the forefront of everything Carl-related: TV stations want interviews, her YouTube and Twitter followers skyrocket. And, yet, no one knows what the Carls really want.

Soon, April is experiencing the darker side of fame: There are factions out there that want to defend the world from The Carls, and see April as a traitor for being a “spokesperson” for them. And it doesn’t help that April keeps burning the bridges between her and everyone in her life that cares about her.

There are two ways you can read this book:

1) as a straight-up science fiction story. And, to be honest, it kind of lacks on this level. It’s not really a great plot; you only find out what The Carls are up to at the end of the book, and it turns out to be rather anti-climatic. April is a questionable human being, more concerned about her own fame than the lives or feelings of the people around her (though I do wonder if I’d feel the same way if Green wrote April as a man). There’s a bit of action, but not much; it’s mostly talk about coding and uploading videos and dealing with people.

2) as an exploration of what fame can do to a “regular” person. This is where I thought the book actually worked. If you know anything about Green (one half of the Vlogbrothers, etc.), it seems that he is coming to terms with the way fame works, especially in the era of social media, and how that affects people. I found that part of the book to be fascinating; how the masses glom on to someone — anyone really — who says things we like (or don’t) and by the sheer force of numbers make that person famous. And how that fame — and the money advertisers and corporations and “news” stations are willing to throw at them — ultimately changes a person. It was an interesting exploration into April’s psyche and the ups and downs of fame.

An interesting read, in the end.