Kell, the Alien

Darcy Pattison's Kell, the Alien is a warm, funny school story for 7 year olds about a boy from another planet trying to pass for a normal Earthling.

What happens

Kell's family crash-landed on Earth when his dad spilled his space-coffee all over the controls. They hid for a year. Now they've sold the spaceship, bought a house next door to a girl called Bree, and Kell is in his first week at an Earth school.

It isn't going brilliantly. He keeps making Accidental Art (seven pieces in one week, and nobody else has any). He's terrified of bugs. And he can only sing LOUD, which gets him noticed by the one person he really needs to avoid. Principal Lynx is a UFO chaser, and she's sure there's an alien somewhere in third grade.

Then Bree says she wants an Alien Party for her ninth birthday, and her mum will pay someone to do it. Kell's parents don't have jobs yet. So Kell volunteers them.

What could possibly go wrong? Mum and Dad know nothing about Earth birthdays. Bree wants a blow-up spaceship (Dad thinks she means blow one up). And Kell finds out, with real horror, that cakes are made with eggs. His people hatch from eggs!

Kell tells the story himself, and his puzzled notes on Earth life are the best bit. Why do Earthling girls punch you on the arm? How can a song about stars turn out to be about a battle? Anything he doesn't understand goes on his Look Up Later List.

Underneath the jokes it's a sweet book about friendship. Kell hates lying to Bree about who he is. There's a lovely thread about letting a friend be good at something, even when you wanted the solo yourself.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

Worth knowing it's a very American school, with grades instead of years and American songs at the school concert. None of that gets in the way.

What to read next

If your reader likes a story where somebody is certain the aliens are nearly here, Dirty Bertie is just as sure. He spots a streak of light through a friend's telescope and decides on the spot that it's a UFO.