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Have you ever wondered what would happen if aliens landed on Earth? Maybe they’d be big and scary-looking, and they’d blow things up with their alien weapons. Or maybe they’d look like eccentric fifth-graders (with a squeaky pet hamster), and they’d actually try to save the planet by asking Earthlings to join their ranks—just like Michael K.’s strange new friends in the quirky new kids’ book, Spaceheadz.
Michael K. wasn’t all that excited about moving to a new place and starting a new school. But his first day at Brooklyn’s P.S. 858 is even worse than expected. He’s forced to sit with some other new kids, Bob and Jennifer, who tell him that they’re Spaceheadz from another planet—and they need him to help them save Earth from being “turned off.”
The last thing Michael K. needs is for the other kids in his new school to think he’s a weirdo—like Bob and Jennifer. But they won’t leave him alone—and their strange behavior is starting to make Michael K. wonder if they really are aliens.
Meanwhile, as Bob and Jennifer (and their hamster, Major Fluffy) try to convince Michael K. to join them, Agent Umber of the Anti-Alien Agency gets the call that Alien Energy Waves have been detected nearby. He hops into his van and races to the site, hoping that this will finally be his chance to prove himself as an agent.
Crammed with crazy pop culture references and out-of-this-world adventures, Spaceheadz is a silly first installment in a wacky new kids’ series. It’s filled with quirky characters—like Bob, who speaks in ad slogans, Jennifer, who sounds like a WWE announcer, and bumbling Agent Umber, who’s like a well-meaning, alien-hunting version of Phineas and Ferb’s mildly-villainous Dr. Doofenschmirtz. And caught up in the middle of it all is poor Michael K., a pretty normal kid who just wanted to fit in at his new school—but now he’s hanging out with a couple of pencil-eating aliens.
Since it’s the first book in the series (and a pretty short one at that), Spaceheadz mostly acts as an introduction for the rest of the series. Understandably, then, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered—like what, exactly, will happen if Bob and Jennifer don’t recruit all 3.14 million (and one) Earthlings, what these followers are supposed to do, or what will happen if they actually do succeed in their mission.
Still, minor plot holes aside, Spaceheadz is an entertaining kids’ book, complete with silly illustrations, crazy characters, and even a few random scientific facts thrown in just for kicks. There are loads of references to related Web sites, too—and young readers will love being able to get online and join the Spaceheadz movement (or even look up Michael K.’s class site).
Kids (and their parents, too) will get a laugh out of Michael K.’s Ultra Strong, High Endurance adventures (Now with 300% more aliens!). And since it’s a quick and easy read, it’s just the thing to take along on your family’s summer vacation.
