2012 Puddly Awards
 
 
Follow us on TwitterFollow us on FacebookFollow us on TumblrSubscribe to RSS

Recently Viewed clear list

Powell's Q&A, Kids' Q&A | February 2, 2012

Emily Winfield Martin: IMG Kids' Q&A: Emily Winfield Martin

2 comments By Emily Winfield Martin

Describe your new book. Oddfellow's Orphanage is a series of stories/vignettes that tell the tale of the newest arrival to a curious orphanage, a... Continue »
  1. $10.49 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

    Oddfellow's Orphanage

    Emily Winfield Martin 9780375869952
spacer
Free Shipping!

Ships free on qualified orders.
$17.99
New Hardcover
Ships in 1 to 3 days
Add to Wishlist
Qty Store Section
2 Airport Children's Young Adult- General
3 Beaverton Children's- Science Fiction and Fantasy
4 Burnside Children's Young Adult- General
1 Hawthorne Children's Middle Readers- General
25 Local Warehouse Children's Young Adult- Social Issue Fiction
25 Remote Warehouse Children's Young Adult- Social Issue Fiction

eBook editions

First Day on Earth

by Cecil Castellucci

First Day on Earth Cover

ISBN13: 9780545060820
ISBN10: 0545060826
All Product Details

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

A startling, wonderful novel about the true meaning of being an alien in an equally alien world.

"We are specks. Pieces of dust in this universe. Big nothings.

"I know what I am."

Mal lives on the fringes of high school. Angry. Misunderstood. Yet loving the world — or, at least, an idea of the world.

Then he meets Hooper. Who says he's from another planet. And may be going home very soon.

Review:

"Mal, a high school loner who has all but withdrawn from the world, believes that aliens abducted him four years earlier in the California desert, where he disappeared for three days. And he wouldn't mind if they came back for him. It's easy to see why Mal would want to escape Earth: his mother has a drinking problem, his father abandoned them six years ago, and he's ostracized and taunted at school. When Mal meets a strange man at a support group for alien abductees, Hooper surprises Mal by claiming to be an extraterrestrial. Is Hooper insane — or Mal's best chance for getting off the planet? Castellucci (Rose Sees Red) gives Mal a strong narrative voice, but while Mal is a sympathetic protagonist, most of the characters feel like types, from his alcoholic mother to popular Posey, who is hiding a painful secret. Readers may find the climactic road trip Mal takes with Posey — ostensibly to take Hooper to meet a spaceship — equally contrived: in the course of one day, Mal goes to a random house party, faces his father, learns Posey's secret, and more. Ages 12 — up. (Nov.)" Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
back to top

About the Author

Cecil Castellucci grew up in New York City and is the author of the young adult novels Rose Sees Red, Boy Proof, The Queen of Cool, and Beige, as well as the comic books The Plain Janes and Janes in Love. Currently, Cecil Castellucci lives in Los Angeles. You can learn more about her at www.misscecil.com and via her blog, castellucci.livejournal.com.
back to top

What Our Readers Are Saying

Add a comment for a chance to win!
Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
mukhatachripinus, January 3, 2012 (view all comments by mukhatachripinus)
This is an interesting and a very incisive book that captures the very being of human socio-political intrigues of human life. Just what men and women go through.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
report this comment
Deborah J. Ross, October 19, 2011 (view all comments by Deborah J. Ross)
I've long thought that one reason we love stories about aliens (or sentient nonhuman creatures) is that at one time or another, we've all felt like aliens ourselves. I know I have, and I'll bet that just about everyone who's survived adolescence has, too. (The "just about" is a hedge in case there are, somewhere in the world, people who just sailed through; I'm willing to allow for the possibility, even if I don't know any of them.)

Cecil Castellucci takes that experience and whirls it around in a blender with the mythos of alien abduction and a protagonist who's not only smart but has to face a whole lot more than many of us. Mal's the kid with the greasy hair, slumped in the last row of seats in class, the kid you're afraid to talk to. He's got secrets, too. Years ago, he disappeared, but whether those missing three days were a "breakdown" or an alien abduction, even Mal isn't sure. His alcoholic mom lives right on the edge.

How far away from here is far enough? Mal asks. How far away would I be willing to go?
Light-years.

The characters are uncompromising, the prose cuts right to the core, and I devoured the book in one sitting. Not just for teens, First Day on Earth is both gritty and lyrical, subtle and over-the-top. It shows with poignant eloquence how the symbols and tropes of speculative fiction can convey our deepest human experiences.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(2 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
report this comment
View all 2 comments
back to top

Product Details

ISBN:
9780545060820
Author:
Castellucci, Cecil
Publisher:
Scholastic Press
Subject:
Situations / Adolescence
Subject:
Children s Young Adult-Social Issue Fiction-Adolescence
Subject:
Children s Young Adult-Social Issue Fiction
Edition Description:
Hardcover
Publication Date:
20111131
Binding:
HARDCOVER
Grade Level:
from 7
Language:
English
Pages:
160
Dimensions:
8.25 x 5.5 in
Age Level:
12
back to top

Other books you might like

  1. $6.95 Used Trade Paper add to wish list

    Gone (Gone)

    Michael Grant 9780061448782
  2. $9.99 New Trade Paper add to wish list

    The Knife of Never Letting Go: Chaos Walking Trilogy #01

    Patrick Ness 9780763645762
  3. $16.95 New Trade Paper add to wish list

    1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

    Charles C. Mann 9781400032051
  4. $9.99 Google eBooks add to wish list

    Daughter of Smoke and Bone

    Laini Taylor 9780316192149
  5. $15.95 New Trade Paper add to wish list

    Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen (Vintage)

    Christopher McDougall 9780307279187
  6. $11.95 Used Trade Paper add to wish list

    A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book One

    George R. R. Martin 9780553381689
back to top

Related Aisles

First Day on Earth New Hardcover
0 stars - 0 reviews
$17.99 In Stock
Product details 160 pages Scholastic Press - English 9780545060820 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "Mal, a high school loner who has all but withdrawn from the world, believes that aliens abducted him four years earlier in the California desert, where he disappeared for three days. And he wouldn't mind if they came back for him. It's easy to see why Mal would want to escape Earth: his mother has a drinking problem, his father abandoned them six years ago, and he's ostracized and taunted at school. When Mal meets a strange man at a support group for alien abductees, Hooper surprises Mal by claiming to be an extraterrestrial. Is Hooper insane — or Mal's best chance for getting off the planet? Castellucci (Rose Sees Red) gives Mal a strong narrative voice, but while Mal is a sympathetic protagonist, most of the characters feel like types, from his alcoholic mother to popular Posey, who is hiding a painful secret. Readers may find the climactic road trip Mal takes with Posey — ostensibly to take Hooper to meet a spaceship — equally contrived: in the course of one day, Mal goes to a random house party, faces his father, learns Posey's secret, and more. Ages 12 — up. (Nov.)" Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
spacer
spacer
  • back to top
Follow us on...


Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.