This was a fun read about a 6th-grade alien living as a normal kid on Earth. But is Nathan an alien? Are Nathan and his parents all part of an experiment? Nathan seeks to find the truth with the help of his best friend, Victor, and other kids who are part of the experiment. References to Calvin and Hobbes and the amazing cats Nathan encounters add some levity and fun. Fans of Stead will not be disappointed. Thanks NetGalley for sending it my way.

6th grader Nathan has always known that he and his parents were not human and their purpose was to stay undetected and simply live life along with the other families just like his, scattered in various places in the US. But something is happening. Several of the almost teen aliens, called Kast have disappeared and are no longer attending the regular Zoom meetups and more alarming, Nathan is growing a tail. This alarming event has been reported, along with how often Nathan uses the special pink toothpaste, how much he eats, sleeps and poops, to Hester aboard what is referred to as “The Wagon.”

What follows is a fast paced journey of discovery for Nathan, his parents and the tail now being called Tuck. Author Rebecca Stead keeps her book to under 300 pages but still fully develops a close friendship between Nathan and classmate Victor, a supportive parents and even a distinct personality in the family cat! There are touches of humor, plenty of warmth and so, so much speculation and mystery surrounding the experiment begun by the alien Kast race, and Nathan’s tail…which, by the way, resembles that of Calvin of the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, a particular favorite of Nathan and Victor’s.

Representation: Nathan’s mom reports that all the aliens posing as humans have different shades of skin just like in the human population but the physical characteristics of most characters are not described. Victor’s family includes a wonderful grandmother who lives with them. One of the pre-teen aliens lives with her widowed father.

Great choice for libraries serving grades 4-7. Text is free of profanity, sexual content and violence. Suggested for those who enjoyed Aliens on Vacation & the other two in the Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast series by Clete Smith and Gibbs’ Moon Base Alpha.

I loved this book. It was a fun read and made you think about what it means to be human and the importance of friendships and loyalty. While I am not the target audience for this book I think even adults would enjoy this book.

Nathan is a more-or-less typical 6th grader who loves Calvin and Hobbes and hanging out with his friends. But he and his family - and nine other families spread out across the United States - have a secret: they're from another planet. They're part of a long, ongoing experiment run by Hester, a mysterious and apparently ageless woman in red. Nathan and his family have been living on Earth for years as part of this experiment, until the day Hester calls them back to the Wagon - their spaceship. Nathan has no idea what is going to happen once they reach the Wagon, but he knows it has something to do with him.

This is a really wonderful and fast-paced coming-of-age adventure story. The kids in the story act and talk like real kids, and the alien element of the story is pretty original and fun. Highly recommended for middle-grade children who like light science fiction with quirky, relatable characters.

A delightfully weird story with a lot of heart from an author that I've always loved. Highly recommended!

I. Needed a book that could take me to another world. This book did that for me. It was a crazy mixture of realistic and bizarre in the best ways. I loved that it made me think even after it was over.