I Was a Sixth Grade Alien

Close your eyes and turn your imagination on to high power. If you cross your basic sixth-grade class (mostly good kids, one impulsive one, one bad one, an inept principal) with an entourage of multi-colored and multi-shaped aliens on the first sanctioned trade mission to Earth, you are in the middle of Bruce Coville's newest science fiction work. Keep your eyes closed and fantasize the voices for these characters. William Dufris does a masterful job of creating them all, making this pleasurable, humorous, and convincing listening. It is an "unabridged production," rather than an "unabridged recording." Enjoy the extravaganza. In addition to the pleasure, one hopes the listener will ponder the possible relationship of Earth beings to other beings of the universe. A.R. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

July 1, 2000
Gr 3-7-William Dufris's narration of Bruce Coville's humorous and at times suspenseful story (Minstrel Books, 1999) is an audio tour-de-force. The story of an alien boy's attempt to fit in with other students in an American sixth grade classroom; his friendship with Tim Tomkins, the boy co-narrating the story; and their discovery of a plot to destroy the aliens' mission on Earth has plenty of excitement and funny moments. It is the narration by Dufris which lifts this recording above the ordinary. Giving each character a distinctive and appropriate voice is no mean feat when characters include a literal slime ball, a singing cook whose name sounds a little like the music of a slide whistle, and a blowhard senator who turns out to be an evil alien plotter. Children will enjoy such gross touches as the various farts used by the aliens to communicate (mentioned only, no sound effects) and the explosive vomiting which saves our heroes and the world. Because of these giggle producing details, this is best-suited for individual and family listening. It will be a welcome addition to audiobook collections and will please a broad age and ability range of listeners.-Louise L. Sherman, Anna C. Scott School, Leonia, NJ

Copyright 2000 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.