Alien in the Mirror

Rating:
Summary: Good first book
Review: An entertaining story with a positive message. Good for children as well as their parents. A great set-up for the next in the series.

Rating:
Summary: not bad
Review: I like the way it starts with a chase, so later you kind of know what's going on before Candy or Carl do.

All the stuff at the bus stop and the school seemed real, like it was happening at my school. That made it seem even freakier when their mother makes the cars vanish, and the Homeworld people start chasing them.

I liked the Homeworld, and the Hummers, but I'm not sure I would want to eat the way they do on the Homeworld.

I'm glad there is another book in the series, I can't wait.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect Sci-Fi novel
Review: If you've read other sci-fi books, this is going to blow you out of the water. It's good for almost all ages of people, kids and adults which makes the book even better!

Rating:
Summary: not bad
Review: It starts out too slow, and ends too fast. But the last half is really good. If the second book is as good as the last half of this one, it'll beat Harry Potter.

Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended
Review: Maybe we're reading too much into this, but like the old 1950's Sci-Fi movies which used Science Fiction themes to discuss deeper social issues, Casey Lytle's "Alien in the Mirror" takes a Sci-Fi adventure and holds the mirror up to the reader.

The parents are aliens, ordered back to the Homeworld, instead they take the family and go on the run. Around this simple theme are woven unmentioned parallels to everything from divorce to substance abuse, dysfunctional families to self-esteem.

The other reviews posted here say all that needs said, and that is why SmallPressBooks highly recommends "Alien in the Mirror" to early and pre-teens as well as their parents.

Rating:
Summary: A surprising discovery!
Review: There's nothing better than a book that surprises you by being more than you expected. I like this book for two main reasons; one, because I wasn't looking for it. I found it while I was browsing for bedtime books for my kids (they like anything with "Alien" in the title), and two, because the two primary young people, Candy and Carl Tennison, aren't just cardboard cut-outs reacting to the plot. They grow and learn with each turn of the page.

They struck a chord with me because they were me and my brother when we were that age. Their feelings and world are real. Their maturing is real. Reading about Candy's newfound appreciation for her brother "her protector" found me wiping a tear from my eye unexpectedly, remembering that same moment in my teen years.

That gradual, golden transition, when a sibling evolves from adversary to best friend, is put under a magnifying glass when Candy and Carl are thrust together into a family crisis which is as important to them as any "real" family crisis anyone could be going through.

In kids books, parents are usually seen as either buffoons who don't see what's right in front of their noses, or all-knowing, all-seeing, omnipotent beings who always know the right thing to say or do. In this book, as in real life, they're neither. Just as Candy and Carl begin to see each other differently, they also see their parents differently. The parents, who always seemed to know the right thing to do, are gradually seen as real people who are just as fallible and just as afraid as anyone else. And there lies a key to the story. It's okay to be afraid.

Early in the book, Candy remembers how brave Carl was during a lightning storm when they were little. Later he confesses he was afraid he'd wet his pants, but wanted to act brave so she wouldn't be so afraid. After this confession he fears she'll think less of him, but her summary says it all. "Isn't that what bravery is? Acting calm when you're actually terrified? People who have no fear to begin with aren't brave ... they're crazy."

The story touches on dysfunctional families (Amy Nottingham and her Uncle), self-esteem, and fear. It says something I don't see said often, but which needs to be said more. It's okay to be afraid. Everyone is afraid sometimes. It doesn't mean you're weak, or a coward. It means you have a brain, and feelings.

If this book has an obvious flaw, it's that it ends too quickly. But at the same time, I can understand why it does. It's a trilogy, so there needs to be a hook for the second book, although this one stands alone nicely as a complete work. It also hurts from being a small-press release. There are a couple typos and format errors which made it to the final cut, but nothing to detract from the quality of the presentation.

The synopsis may look like cookie-cutter fluff on the surface. But when you take a bite you find gold. It's a shame books like this are relegated to small presses. If the big publishing houses haven't seen this book, they should. Read between the lines in this story and they'll find the kind of depth and sincerity which is missing from ninety percent of the books they're publishing now. This is one of those books kids will still talk about when they're grown up.

An adult could read this book in just a couple hours. I read it to my girls as their bedtime story, so we spread it out over five nights. Mister Lytle, thank you for those five evenings with my girls. Thank you especially for the two times (can you guess which ones they were?) when I wiped my eyes, causing my girls to ask "why are you crying mommy?" which led to stories about my brother - their uncle - who they never got a chance to know.