My Teacher Fried My Brains

Author: Bruce Coville
Publisher: Pocket Books
Copyright: 1991
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 136
Reading Level: Ages 8 to 12 (Barnes and Noble)
Summary: This story is told by a boy in the seventh grade whose name is Duncan. Duncan is a back-talking, rebellious kid who has been held back a couple of times in school. This book is the second in a series so from the background information we learn that during the previous school year Duncan helped a few other kids expose one of their teachers as an alien and chase him from Earth. However, the alien (Broxholm) took a boy named Peter with him when he left to go back to space. In this book Duncan begins his seventh grade year off by being late to school and then, pulling the fire alarm in the hall. In order to hide from the assistant principal when he pulls the fire alarm, he hides in a dumpster outside the school. While he is sitting in the dumpster he finds a glove that is made to look like a human hand. He determines that there is still a teacher at the school who is really an alien.
The next day, the assistant principal calls Duncan to his office and ends up proving that Duncan had been the one to pull the fire alarm. As punishment, Duncan has to sit in the assistant principal's office for a week and when he finally gets to go back to classes the assistant principal volunteers him to be the candidate for an experiment with static electricity in his science class. The experiment basically is a shock to his head through this helmet that conducts electricity. However, Duncan realizes that the machine that fried his brain actually made him smarter so he decides to sneak in and do it a few more times. Eventually, he realizes he's gone too far with it because he starts channeling radio stations and tv shows in his brain. He decides he needs to talk to someone about it, so he approaches his home economics teacher, Ms. Karpou, who has always been nice to him. Unfortunately for him, he finds out a little too late that she is actually the alien, and that her real name is Kreeblim. She kidnaps him and uses his brain as a communication device to communicate with the other alien Broxholm. But in the meantime, he is also able to communicate a little bit with Peter whenever Kreeblim is out of the room. Eventually, Susan, one of his friends who fought off Broxholm with him comes to rescue him. Before they can get out of the house Kreeblim shows up. But she tells them that they are going to be part of an intergalactic council (along with herself, Broxholm and Peter) to protect Earth. We learn that the other aliens in space are worried because humans are capable of being so smart but they destroy their world and treat each other badly. So they are trying to decide if they should blow up the earth, leave Earth alone, take it over, or blockade it. So the story sets us up for the next book in the series by leaving us with the five of them being transported into space to go to the council.
Who would you recommend this book to? I think this book would particularly appeal to boys. In fact, I read it at the recommendation of my husband. It was entertaining and kind of strange at the same time. I think it would be a fun book for young kids with very active imaginations.
Potential problems or conflicts: The book is very sci-fi and it might scare kids that are too young for it. Duncan is pretty rebellious in the beginning and we pick up that he comes from a somewhat troubled home so there may be some thematic material that may be touchy for some kids. There was one swear word in it but for the most part I think it would be pretty safe for most kids.
My reaction: This book was not bad. It was fairly entertaining and I kept reading just to find out what was really going on and if the alien was going to be real. It was a little more sci-fi than I usually like but I think it would be a lot of fun for a young kid.