Mr. Fahrenheit

January 11, 2016
When several small-town teens have a close encounter of the weird kind, it changes their lives forever in this offbeat SF thriller. Amateur magician Benji Lightman dreams of leaving home after he graduates from high school, even as he yearns for the one defining moment that will make his life perfect. When he and his friends accidentally shoot down a UFO, that moment seems at hand. But with government agents seeking the truth about what happened, Benji and his friends at odds over how to handle the situation, and the alien craft becoming ever creepier, Benji’s grasp for glory may destroy them all. Martin’s (The End Games) story is more interested in character growth than its science fiction elements; the saucer and its extraterrestrial cargo are only vaguely described for much of the narrative, and it’s Benji’s actions and their repercussions that truly fuel the plot. Affectionate callbacks to the music and science fiction culture of the 1950s, beginning with the saucer shape of the alien craft and the doo-wop music preferred by Benji’s sheriff grandfather, enhance this book’s quirkier aspects. Ages 14–up. Agent: Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary & Media.

February 1, 2016
Teens on the cusp of leaving their sleepy town shoot down a flying saucer. Benji has spent his whole life in Bedford Falls, the same town his father grew up in and where his lawman grandfather currently serves. Benji dreams of leaving the Midwestern doldrums behind with his would-be sweetheart, Ellie, and pals Zeeko and CR. When a mysterious saucer shows up in the night sky, the foursome shoots it down, bringing a UFO and all the danger that implies crashing into their lives. Now Benji must do whatever he can to keep his friends, family, and town safe from government agents investigating the UFO. Bedford Falls isn't the only thing that needs a shot of adrenaline: Martin's narrative wanders and dawdles infuriatingly. Making matters worse are the undistinguished writing and poor characterization. The characters all seem to speak in the same John Green-esque voice, and it's hard to differentiate them. The novel seems to have one eye on being a sweet romance and the other on being a tribute to 1950s sci-fi drive-in movies. These goals never work together, making for a split-personality read. The rare moments that pop feel like miraculous goofs; would that a few more drafts could have fixed the tonal issues and brought those interesting ideas to the fore. Undercooked. (Science fiction. 12-16)

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February 1, 2016

Gr 7-10-Benji Lightman is the high school football mascot, Benji Blaze-an aspiring magician who pulls infinity scarves out of his tuxedo sleeves and is the master of flash-paper during pregame coin tosses. As outside observers, readers will see what Benji is coming to realize himself: he's a pariah, merely tolerated (and perhaps mocked) rather than adored for his magicianship. In the meantime, he and his loyal friends witness a UFO crash and find themselves inexplicably linked with an alien "Voyager." Benji believes this is the moment that will make him special. Following their first contact experience, Benji and friends hide debris from the spacecraft. Then a man in black who claims to be from the FBI turns up asking questions. The explanation starts to unfold when Benji discovers that the psychic dream he and the Voyager share are visions of his grandfather's youth-as this is not the alien's first visit to this otherwise sleepy community. All in all, this science fiction novel is good, but not great. It pays homage to the classic sci-fi films of the 1950s and attempts to invoke the nostalgia depicted in Super 8 but involves too many different flashbacks, too little actualized romance, and not enough detail on the alien. VERDICT A solid option reserved exclusively for hard-core fans of classic sci-fi.-Leah Krippner, Harlem High School, Machesney Park, IL

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 1, 2016
Grades 8-11 *Starred Review* Martin's follow-up to his breakneck, yet surprisingly moving, horror novel, The End Games (2013), trades zombie tropes for alien ones in this invigorating piece of sci-fi nostalgia. A postfootball game hangout with high-school magician Benjiaka Benji Blazesand his three best buds goes wonky when they shoot a UFO right out of the sky and it crashes beneath lake ice. Convinced that he has found the thing to kick-start his dull life in Bedford Falls (yes, that Bedford Falls; Martin knows his Americana), Benji convinces his pals to keep secret what emerges: a smooth metal pod that begins communicating via doo-wop music. Though it sounds farcical, Martin has a knack for making ominous hay of absurdities. Not that this is entirely straight-facedthe central characters are a boisterous, joke-cracking bunch that never let things get too serious. It's a tightrope not even Martin can always toe: some paragraphs spiral out of control, and the climax is packed with coincidences and shortcuts, as if even the author is out of breath. These lapses, thankfully, are bandaged with a gauzy, Bradburian magic. This is The Day the Earth Stood Still by way of Something Wicked This Way Comes: campy but haunting, and about ray-gun-shooting monsters as much as it is about bittersweet broken dreams.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)