Aliens Ate My Homework

Author: Bruce Coville
Publisher: Pocket Books
Copyright: 1993
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 179
Reading Level: Ages 8 to 12 (Barnes and Noble)
Summary: This is a story about Rod Allbright, a sixth-grade boy who has aliens crash land through his bedroom window. In talking with the aliens he learns that they have come to stop another alien who is known throughout the galaxies for being horribly cruel. Rod comes to find out that the alien is disguised as one of the boys at school who has be bullying him. The aliens take Rod on their team as a deputy to try and stop the cruel alien, known to humans as Billy Becker. The only problem is that the aliens and their ship are miniature size because the module that can enlarge them and the ship broke off during the crash landing and they can't find it. They shrink Rod down to their own size to help him escape Becker when he catches Rod helping the aliens. So Rod joins their two-inch-tall team and helps them put a stop to Becker's bullying and cruelty. In the end, Becker takes Rod's three-year-old twin siblings and holds them hostage to get the other aliens to surrender themselves and their ship. When the aliens surrender he lets the twins go and traps Rod and the aliens in one of the twins lunchboxes where they find the missing enlarging module. They break out of the lunchbox, reinstall the module and fight off Becker. When the ship enlarges it is in Billy Becker's house and his house blows up and knocks out Becker so they can keep him safely locked up on the ship. When the police think that Rod is responsible for blowing up the house because he wasn't in school and he was at Billy's house, the aliens help him keep from getting arrested in return for his help on their mission.
Who would you recommend this book to? Once again this book would be a lot of fun for kids with active imaginations. I think it would be one that boys would enjoy reading too.
Potential problems or conflicts: I think this book is pretty good for avoiding problems or conflicts. Even though the character deals with bullying, the morals that it teaches are against bullying and cruelty. The only things that might cause question are that there are a couple of swearwords and that the main character's father left his family and disappeared which might make the book a little touchy for some kids.
My reaction: This book was entertaining. I really like Rod's little twin siblings. They add good comic relief. Over all I think this is a really fun book for young kids. It's got action, humor, and good messages of honest, friendship and kindness.