Monday, April 9, 2012

Book Review - The Not-So-Perfect Planet


The Not-So-Perfect Planet (Way-Too-Real Aliens)

By: Pamela F. Service
Publisher: Darby Creek Publishing
Publication Date: January 2012
ISBN: 978-0761379195
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: April 2012

Josh had written an award-winning story that had actually turned "into real worlds somewhere else." There was no such thing as fiction, because in the universe he had simply tapped into the lives of some blue guys. The rest was history, because he and his kid sister, Maggie, had gone on a wild and crazy adventure after they placed an alien circlet gizmo on his head. Off they went into the wild blue yonder. Nope, he'd never do that again. Just being a real human kid was wild enough for him.

It might have been the end of it had Maggie decided she'd had enough of weird creatures, but she was up for another adventure. Maggie looked up to her big brother and wanted him to create some idyllic place with "white sand beaches and a sparkling green sea." She figured he could add some nice touches and include maybe a unicorn, a mermaid, and some pretty stones. Josh went to work, but his planet sounded pretty dull, and Maggie claimed it was "Kind of a lame story." Ummmm...not for long!

Josh gathered up two translation devices, a set of walkie-talkies, and the alien circlet gizmo and they were off to Maggie's "tourist brochure planet." That sand-filled paradise was anything but a paradise when a doofmelopalan came snarling at them. The only thing unicorn about him was the horn on top of his head. Maggie and Josh were stunned when that "hairy fanged thing" grabbed the circlet. Princess Nwen and Prince Igi would soon arrive to complicate the mess. Googoroo, the volcano god was looking for a yummy sacrifice. Would two human freaks be tasty enough for him? Would Maggie and Josh ever get home?

Naturally when Maggie asked her big brother to "tune into a place that's not so scary," he had no clue of the dangers in paradise. The "Not-So-Perfect Planet" is loaded with wild `n crazy creatures that make Legg, his six-legged pet look like a newborn kitten. The new alien creatures they encounter are quite unique and definitely have some very memorable personalities and characteristics. Their arguments and spats somehow seemed very kid-human and familiar. When Doof claims "All sea creatures are the same. Nasty cheats..." Well, you get the picture. This is yet another quirky, fun adventure in the "Way-Too-Real Aliens" series young readers will love. Say, you'd better watch out for the evil Zurz before one flies down and swoops you up into the sky!

Quill says: Josh and Maggie's new adventure on an unsettling, freaky planet will wow the young sci-fi fan.

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