The Not-So-Perfect Planet

by Pamela F. Service, Mike Gorman (Illustrator)

Overview

Josh Higgins has an alien gizmo that lets him think his way to other planets—and he does NOT want to use it. But his sister Maggie won't stop bugging him, so he agrees to an off-world vacation. Josh dreams up a planet full of blue oceans, white beaches, and sunny weather. And he prepares for everything...well, almost.

A parade of cranky creatures soon spoils Josh and Maggie's perfect getaway—including a one-horned beast, a sharp-toothed sea princess, and a two-tailed monkey. The planet's locals just can't get along, and Josh and Maggie find themselves caught up in the squabbling.

As the Earth kids rush from one danger to another, will they discover a way to keep the peace? Or will Josh and Maggie become prisoners of the not-so-perfect planet?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467730303
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2013
Series:	Way-Too-Real Aliens , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	120
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	9 - 10 Years

About the Author

Born in Berkeley, California, Pamela F. Service grew up loving to hear, read, and tell stories—particularly about weird stuff. Pamela earned a BA in Political Science from UC Berkeley followed by an MA in history and archaeology from the University of London. She spent many years living in Bloomington, Indiana, writing, serving on the city council, and being curator of a history museum. She has a grown daughter, Alex, who is also a museum curator. Pamela is now living in Eureka, California, where she writes, works as a museum curator, and acts in community theater.

Mike Gorman is a seasoned editorial illustrator whose work has been seen in the New York Times, The New Yorker, Entertainment Weekly, and other publications. He lives in Westbrook, Maine, with his wife, three children, a dog, a cat, two toads, and a gecko.

Editorial Reviews

"In this second installment, Josh and his younger sister, Maggie, use alien technology to transport themselves to a planet he dreams up—but terrifying unicorns, hideous mermaids, and other scary surprises await them. Over-the-top silly and brimming with cliffhangers, the fast-paced sibling adventure demonstrates problem-solving, kindness, and teamwork. The kids and monsters look amusingly similar in Gorman's black-and-white art." —The Horn Book Guide

From the Publisher

Caving to the demands of his pesky little sister Maggie, aspiring fictioneer Josh's second fantasy story features a world with mermaids and unicorns. Sort of. The devil's in the details, though, and just as in the series opener (Escape From Planet Yastol, 2011) the two find themselves stranded in an actual, newly made reality based on Josh's tale but inhabited by toothy, twisted versions of the residents he has inexpertly envisioned. Furthermore, during the ensuing series of captures and escapes, Josh and Maggie are joined by no fewer than five different kinds of creatures, each of whom turns out to be a youngest child afflicted with bossy parents and scornful older sibs. The plot is no more than a set of loosely connected set pieces, but readers may find the burgeoning corps of somehow–familiar-sounding furred, scaled, winged, finny and even stone whiners amusing, and budding writers may take both Service's indirect advice about verbal precision and her embedded examples of Theme, Composition, Character Development and Revision to heart. Gorman's angular figures of grotesque aliens and their frantic-looking creator in various predicaments goose up the comic overtones. The weak plot doesn't really bear up under its instructional load, but there's enough farce to keep the lessons well-greased. (Science fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews