Fourteen-year-old Sherman Capote is an Air Force brat used to moving schools. But he’s never been to a place like Groom Lake High, the high school for aliens at Area 51. It’s a totally alien environment filled with cliques and bullies, but he makes friends with a gang of galactic misfits: Octo, a quick-witted Ventitent (a twenty-tentacled “octopus”), Houston, a moody robot, Sonya, a rebellious lizard, and Juliet, an omnipotent goddess. But when the school bully, Ned, initiates a War of the Worlds, Sherman and his new friends must set aside homework, first crushes and high school proms to save the world.
ℵ
↠ Title: Alienated: Grounded at Groom Lake
↠ Genre: Sci-fi
↠ Author: Jeff Norton
↠ Release Date: 1st November [UK]
↠ Rating: 4/5 stars
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Something slightly different from the usual for today’s review: a middle-grade alien novel. I honestly wasn’t entirely sure when this came through in the post, because: a) MG is not usually my genre (I’ve reviewed approximately 2 MG books in my life); and b) . . . aliens. Books featuring aliens go two ways for me. Also, c) I had beef with the cover and still dislike it even now,
Alienated follows the character Sherman as he moves to a new school – but this one is slightly different. It’s full of aliens. It’s a really fun play on the idea of school being an alien environment, and it made me laugh, and is sure to delight readers of the middle-grade audience.
A further thing which makes this book a really fun read is the narrative voice – written in first person, Sherman has a really charming and engaging colloquial voice that made this book really easy and enjoyable to read.
Yet another fun thing about this novel were the aliens: Sherman makes a group of friends out of assorted alien species, and they all stand out as individuals and are really rather cool. Octo is, of course, very funny, but I personally loved Sonya.
Narrative-wise, it’s not anything new, but Norton really spins his own charm on the ‘misfits vs. popular school bully’ trope within the school setting. The book is well-paced and easily read, making it perfect for middle-grade readers.
TL;DR: A quick and fun middle-grade read, perfect for readers young or old who are seeking a little intergalactic fun.
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