Your Alien

It's best-friendship at first contact after a flying saucer crashes outside a boy's house, and a Little Green Man with a white jumpsuit and a snaggletoothed smile emerges. In second-person narration that has an understated tenderness, Sauer (Nugget and Fang) follows the two through the day. The boy's parents don't notice the new arrival, his classmates are mesmerized, and "As for your teacher? She'll think she needs new glasses." Beyond the evident warmth Fujita (the Robots Rule series) creates between alien and boy, he has a real way with light; the passage of time is almost tangible in the way sunlight streams through windows or wanes as the friends race down a hill flying a kite. And when the alien's homesickness sets in, it's light--specifically every light in the boy's house, as well as "a few extras here and there" (think Christmas in July)--that attracts the attention of two green parents eager to find their child. Not since E.T. has extraterrestrial entertainment stood such a good chance of making kids (and their parents) tear up. Ages 3-up. Author's agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Aug.)

Say a kid alien crashes into your yard. As Your Alien says, "You will want to keep him." Told in the future perfect tense, this sweet and bright book describes your experience with your new alien friend. Somehow, your parents don't notice, and neither does your teacher, as you and your alien "see ordinary things in a brand-new way." But something isn't quite right, and your alien starts to miss home. So you do the right thing—signal its parents to take it home! The illustrations are stylistically akin to shots from an animated short, with shading that looks almost like brush strokes but are created digitally. At its core, the sentiments of the book are heartwarming—the little boy in the story realizes the importance of home— and the use of you draws readers into the story. There is no doubt that lovers of space will enjoy this spin on E.T. VERDICT A tender and playful look at the meaning of home—with aliens!—Lisa Nowlain, Darien Library, CT