0 Book Review: First Day on Earth

First Day on Earth
by Cecil Castellucci

Released: November 1, 2011
Publisher: Scholastic
Hardcover: 150 pages
Links:
Goodreads/Author

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.

First Impression:
I must admit, I picked this book up because it was so short and I was in the mood for a decent sci-fi novel without too much meat in it.

While Reading:
Anger screams from page one. Mal is definitely full of teenage angst, the kind that makes you break windows and yell at people. He tries to deal with it himself, but keeps coming back to the root of the problem. Having been taken by aliens, he attends a support group where similar situations have happened. Hooper is one of the attendees, who he finds out is homeless and decides to help him out and buy him some food. In turn, Hooper decides to tell him the truth - he's an alien and he needs help finding a way back home.

Mal is astounded and doesn't quite believe him, but if there's a chance to get off the planet and away from his miserable life, Mal will take it. That is, until he meets a girl from school. Is it enough to make him change his mind? Will Hooper let him travel into space with him? Is Hooper really an alien or just a crazy homeless guy?

There are so many "what-ifs" that the end of the book quite shocked me. I won't ruin it, but I definitely thought it would not end that way.

Verdict:
A solid novel that is full of angst, hope and budding relationships. First Day on Earth was short read full of enough content to tell a full story that really engaged me as a reader.