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Mike Pillsbury #1
Can of Worms
Fellow citizens of the I do not belong on this planet. I am being held against my will, trapped by ignorance and cruelty. You must save me. Take me away from this. I am desperately in need of your assistance. Please help me. Mike Pillsbury. When a frustrated plea to the universe attracts a motley crew of aliens determined to rescue him, Mike Pillsbury decides he isn't quite ready to relinquish life on Earth. Will his visitors, who all have something at stake, let him stay? 00-01 Sunshine State Young Reader's Award Masterlist (Gr. 6-8) and 00-01 Young Reader's Choice Award Program Masterlist
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 2, 2015
Let me begin with why I read this book. There was, once upon a time, a Disney Channel Original Movie called Can of Worms playing at 3AM. I just so happened to be up at that hour--I'm kidding, I recorded it because it sounded interesting. I enjoyed the movie, saw it was based on a book, and decided to read the book.
One reason I was interested in reading the book was to discover the answer to a question that the movie left open-- Is Mike Pillsbury, the main character, an alien? Not in the sense of an immigrant from another country, but is he an actual extra terrestrial from outer space? The book, though still not giving a definite answer to the question, did seem to lean more toward one answer than another.
Can of Worms is an amazing book with a wonderful plot. All the aliens within the book are very well-imagined and well-described. However, though the plot line is incredible and well put-together, the characters seem to get less attention because of this and become almost secondary to the plot. There are one or two characters that change throughout the story, but they are not truly developed in a rounded-out way so as to make this changing as significant as it could be.
All in all, I did love the book. Did I like it better than the movie? Let me tell you, I love that movie, but I did also love this book. The book's plot is more in-depth than that of the movie, and it, of course, had more sci-fi aspects than the movie that was made in 1999, but I do think that I might believe that the movie had a slight edge over the book.
Will I read the sequel to this book? Most definitely!
One reason I was interested in reading the book was to discover the answer to a question that the movie left open-- Is Mike Pillsbury, the main character, an alien? Not in the sense of an immigrant from another country, but is he an actual extra terrestrial from outer space? The book, though still not giving a definite answer to the question, did seem to lean more toward one answer than another.
Can of Worms is an amazing book with a wonderful plot. All the aliens within the book are very well-imagined and well-described. However, though the plot line is incredible and well put-together, the characters seem to get less attention because of this and become almost secondary to the plot. There are one or two characters that change throughout the story, but they are not truly developed in a rounded-out way so as to make this changing as significant as it could be.
All in all, I did love the book. Did I like it better than the movie? Let me tell you, I love that movie, but I did also love this book. The book's plot is more in-depth than that of the movie, and it, of course, had more sci-fi aspects than the movie that was made in 1999, but I do think that I might believe that the movie had a slight edge over the book.
Will I read the sequel to this book? Most definitely!
May 4, 2015
I loved the Disney Channel movie based on this book when I was younger. I loved all the different aliens and creatures in it. I never paid much attention to the story so I only had a vague idea of what it was really about. And what it's about is not fitting in and dealing with unintended consequences. Mike Pillsbury doesn't fit in at school. He's not social and keeps mostly to himself. He's works at a higher level than most other students and is incredibly smart. When the tension at school escalates in desperation and anguish he asks to be taken away by someone out in the galaxy. To his surprise, there is a response. A can of worms has been opened as various aliens come to take him with them. The book teaches a good lesson in taking responsibility for your actions, especially the unintended. It also has a good message of things getting better. Just because you may feel like you don't fit in, it doesn't mean you won't find the place you belong.
November 18, 2020
So a few years ago, I reviewed the DCOM based on this book. I didn't like it that much but I was curious about the book. Some of the book based DCOMS have places you can go to find out what the differences are. But no one cares about this movie no one has really cared to look into the differences in this one. I'm fascinated by the movie so I decided to do it myself. So I got acess to the book and read it and the results are kinda interesting but kinda disappointing.
The movie is surprisingly close to the book, at least when it comes to the basic skeleton. Even the differences don't disrupt the basic plot compared to some other movies based on books. However, the movie is a downgrade in small ways. The author actually wrote the movie too...sort of. After one drat, she was replaced by someone else but Disney didn't like that version so she was called back, but not much of her suggestions were used in anyway. She fought to get sole screenwriting credit anyway and she won.
Interesting, sort of explains why it's close but has this little differences that add up in the end. Taking the book on its own, its okay. I wasn't sure how to rate as I thought it was just okay. For those who haven't read my review for the movie, it has a boy feeling he doesn't belong among his family and friends and thinking he might be an alien instead. He makes a call for any to get him and they actually arrive.
The book itself feels a bit too toned down for the wacky alien adventure it wants to be. It keeps a good pace at least, just feels like it's not as fun as it could have been, and outside of Mike and the love interest, the characters are just kind of there, like the sister and the best friend Nick. Even the villain enters a bit late just like in the movie and weirdly the movie fleshed him out ever so slightly more.
I see why the movie wanted to be wackier, even if it meant being more off putting. Remember that girl alien who wanted to bonk Mike? Not in the book, thank god. The main reason the book works better if Mike's arc. The first person narration helps to make him more understandable, as the rest of his family is awesome and has a lot going for them while he's just some loser. Over the course of the story, he gets stronger bonds with his friends and in the end there's a nice moment where he looks over them and sees that he has it good and so his choice to stay feels earned.
Losing the first person perspective makes it harder for the movie make him understandable and he just looks like a crazy person, thinking aliens will actually come down for him. I'm not sure how they could have fixed this, as they do almost try at points, but as it stands, the book version just made him a bit more likable. In the movie, the ending doesn't feel quite quite as it seems like he just learned his lesson out of nowhere and it's not that emotional satisfying.
Another reason is that the love interest is a bit better in the book. They have a bit more chemistry here, and that cringe-y scene where he is on the phone with her while also dealing with an alien actually has him try to cover up and say those sounds are just the plumber so thus the call ends on a nicer note with them building up to being more than friends more naturally.
Again, it's the little things rather than the big picture. Oh and the Halloween element is still pointless but at least they don't move on to November like the movie and the final scene does use Halloween in a nice way. The climax is about as good as the movie though, but it's it to make way for a nicer wrap up and ending note at least.
Overall, this book is fine. For what it is, it gets the job done and proves a decent arc for the lead. It just doesn't go as all out with the aliens and it's nothing super memorable. The movie stay close-ish and while most of the differences are understandable, to make it more cinematic, some are clear downgrades that make it feel less complete.
It goes to show that an adaptation can be fairly close but still miss the mark where it counts. It's a decent enough read but not one you need to rush out to read. If you haven't seen the movie, read this first since it's at least better and if you've seen the movie, know that the book isn't super different but is again, a bit better.
I just kinda wanted more out of it I guess. ...And I may get it, as the book had TWO sequels! Oh boy, that's something to look into. And the 2nd one, (Eggs in one basket) pulls a Haunted Mask 2 and is about the bully. That should be interesting at least. Anyway, this was fine.
MISC MOVIE DIFFERENCES I FELT LIKE POINTING OUT BUT COULDN'T FIT INTO THE REVIEW:
* The book has a nice scene where Mike actually talks with his parents about if he really is adopted and they assure him he isn't and that they still love him anyway. They also say even if he was, they would sitll be loving. Side note, Mike says he's known kids who found out they were adopted and they were cool with it. That's weirdly refreshing to see.
* The talking dog comes in AFTER the first alien in the book. and overall the film version of the character has a bit more of a presence which is one changed I was okay with.
* The movie opens In Medias Res, with showing us that scene where he calls the aliens. The book doesn't do it, just starts with the scene where Mike is telling some kids his alien stories.
* One flaw the book shares is that they don't explain that weird hallucination at the football game. However, here, while they don't say that he's an alien, they do have a bit at the tail end that slightly implies that could be as odd things happen with no clear explanation. Perhaps the sequels go more into this.
* In the movie, the villain is arrested by alien cops. In the books, he freaking dies by being hit really hard by something and falls over, and then they just move on like it was nothing. Yeah, I can see why they changed this, not sure how to feel about it overall though.
* In the movie, they use the bully as bait for the villain. In the book, they just call on him for muscle as the love interest is the bait instead. The villain needs both a male and female human for his zoo, that's why he would want her. I think in some ways the movie has the better idea but the book version leads to a nice moment where she willingly does this but Mike is unsure and she to assure him it'll be fine.
* The sister is still a bitch in the book, just less so and has a fine moment at the end.
* Weirdly, the book gives the male friend more to do early on but he basically vanishes later, while the movie is the opposite, he's just sort of there early on but has a bit more to do later.
* I must repeat: The horny alien is a movie addition.
The movie is surprisingly close to the book, at least when it comes to the basic skeleton. Even the differences don't disrupt the basic plot compared to some other movies based on books. However, the movie is a downgrade in small ways. The author actually wrote the movie too...sort of. After one drat, she was replaced by someone else but Disney didn't like that version so she was called back, but not much of her suggestions were used in anyway. She fought to get sole screenwriting credit anyway and she won.
Interesting, sort of explains why it's close but has this little differences that add up in the end. Taking the book on its own, its okay. I wasn't sure how to rate as I thought it was just okay. For those who haven't read my review for the movie, it has a boy feeling he doesn't belong among his family and friends and thinking he might be an alien instead. He makes a call for any to get him and they actually arrive.
The book itself feels a bit too toned down for the wacky alien adventure it wants to be. It keeps a good pace at least, just feels like it's not as fun as it could have been, and outside of Mike and the love interest, the characters are just kind of there, like the sister and the best friend Nick. Even the villain enters a bit late just like in the movie and weirdly the movie fleshed him out ever so slightly more.
I see why the movie wanted to be wackier, even if it meant being more off putting. Remember that girl alien who wanted to bonk Mike? Not in the book, thank god. The main reason the book works better if Mike's arc. The first person narration helps to make him more understandable, as the rest of his family is awesome and has a lot going for them while he's just some loser. Over the course of the story, he gets stronger bonds with his friends and in the end there's a nice moment where he looks over them and sees that he has it good and so his choice to stay feels earned.
Losing the first person perspective makes it harder for the movie make him understandable and he just looks like a crazy person, thinking aliens will actually come down for him. I'm not sure how they could have fixed this, as they do almost try at points, but as it stands, the book version just made him a bit more likable. In the movie, the ending doesn't feel quite quite as it seems like he just learned his lesson out of nowhere and it's not that emotional satisfying.
Another reason is that the love interest is a bit better in the book. They have a bit more chemistry here, and that cringe-y scene where he is on the phone with her while also dealing with an alien actually has him try to cover up and say those sounds are just the plumber so thus the call ends on a nicer note with them building up to being more than friends more naturally.
Again, it's the little things rather than the big picture. Oh and the Halloween element is still pointless but at least they don't move on to November like the movie and the final scene does use Halloween in a nice way. The climax is about as good as the movie though, but it's it to make way for a nicer wrap up and ending note at least.
Overall, this book is fine. For what it is, it gets the job done and proves a decent arc for the lead. It just doesn't go as all out with the aliens and it's nothing super memorable. The movie stay close-ish and while most of the differences are understandable, to make it more cinematic, some are clear downgrades that make it feel less complete.
It goes to show that an adaptation can be fairly close but still miss the mark where it counts. It's a decent enough read but not one you need to rush out to read. If you haven't seen the movie, read this first since it's at least better and if you've seen the movie, know that the book isn't super different but is again, a bit better.
I just kinda wanted more out of it I guess. ...And I may get it, as the book had TWO sequels! Oh boy, that's something to look into. And the 2nd one, (Eggs in one basket) pulls a Haunted Mask 2 and is about the bully. That should be interesting at least. Anyway, this was fine.
MISC MOVIE DIFFERENCES I FELT LIKE POINTING OUT BUT COULDN'T FIT INTO THE REVIEW:
* The book has a nice scene where Mike actually talks with his parents about if he really is adopted and they assure him he isn't and that they still love him anyway. They also say even if he was, they would sitll be loving. Side note, Mike says he's known kids who found out they were adopted and they were cool with it. That's weirdly refreshing to see.
* The talking dog comes in AFTER the first alien in the book. and overall the film version of the character has a bit more of a presence which is one changed I was okay with.
* The movie opens In Medias Res, with showing us that scene where he calls the aliens. The book doesn't do it, just starts with the scene where Mike is telling some kids his alien stories.
* One flaw the book shares is that they don't explain that weird hallucination at the football game. However, here, while they don't say that he's an alien, they do have a bit at the tail end that slightly implies that could be as odd things happen with no clear explanation. Perhaps the sequels go more into this.
* In the movie, the villain is arrested by alien cops. In the books, he freaking dies by being hit really hard by something and falls over, and then they just move on like it was nothing. Yeah, I can see why they changed this, not sure how to feel about it overall though.
* In the movie, they use the bully as bait for the villain. In the book, they just call on him for muscle as the love interest is the bait instead. The villain needs both a male and female human for his zoo, that's why he would want her. I think in some ways the movie has the better idea but the book version leads to a nice moment where she willingly does this but Mike is unsure and she to assure him it'll be fine.
* The sister is still a bitch in the book, just less so and has a fine moment at the end.
* Weirdly, the book gives the male friend more to do early on but he basically vanishes later, while the movie is the opposite, he's just sort of there early on but has a bit more to do later.
* I must repeat: The horny alien is a movie addition.
October 3, 2013
I liked it. The book was wierd because it was about worms and it used basketball in it.
November 29, 2025
Like many it seems, I didn’t know about the book until I learned about the DCOM. The film (which is loosely kids horror, the soul reason I picked this up) based off this book isn’t very good, but hey, I figured I’d give the book a shot. Turns out, it’s far better (unless my take on the movie is outdated; I’m due a rewatch so I’ll get to that at some point). The writing here is great, with some mild complaints I’ll bring up, and I feel the author delivered the out-there idea of this story really well. The alien shenanigans is fun and doesn’t overstay it’s welcome, with some interesting switch-ups in direction in the final act. The story has some Halloween ambience going on which I quite liked. The characters, especially Mike, are really good; Mike’s coming-of-age arc is well-done, and the other character support the story well with even a bully-to-friend arc thrown in here, which I liked. The story is all-in-all a super fun read that had a great ending, kooky characters/ideas, and a lot of imagination alongside great character arcs. However, there’s some mild writing downfalls; some things aren’t delivered wholly well and I say that due to some pacing issues. Some characters feel a bit crammed in, something things are brushed over really quickly, and I wish there was an extra fifty pages to give the story my time to breathe by the end and to flesh out to jarringly large cast of humans and even aliens. It’s just a bit jammed and didn’t do everything justice. Still, this is an awesome kids science-fiction/fantasy/coming-of-age novella (the first of a trilogy, which I’ll have to finish) and it really shows that kids books can be enjoyed by everyone. Overall, 9/10. Excited to check out the others and see if the quality only improves (heard the third is great so we’ll see). Book > Movie for sure. Not quite kids horror sadly but I appreciated it for what it was, and it hit all the stops anyways.
October 21, 2020
This book is definitely not what I expected, but in a good way! The book was too drawn out in some parts and cliche in others, but I probably would have appreciated it more as a fifth grader than an adult.
September 20, 2020
Du-umb. But I know 8-10 year old kids will enjoy it.
December 5, 2023
Can of Worms has always been one of my favorite DCOMs, so I decided to give the book a try. I genuinely enjoyed this quick read, and will continue the series
December 15, 2012
Can of worm is a science fiction novel (146 pages), written by Kathy MacKel. This book revolves around a very intelligent seventh-grader named Mike Pillsbury. The young boy feels like he does not fit in anywhere, not in his family, not in school, nowhere on this planet! He always sensed that he was adopted and believed that he was not human. He felt like an alien from another planet. The young boy had stories that he would tell little kids that he thought were real and revolved around his past. After life on earth becomes too much, Mike, frustrated, decides to send an intergalactic message calling for help: “Fellow citizens of the galaxy: I do not belong on this planet. I am being held against my will, trapped by ignorance and cruelty. You must save me. Take me away from this. I am desperately in need of your assistance. Please help me. Mike Pillsbury.” It is true that Mike asks the space aliens to come and rescue him, but he never expects them to actually arrive. When they show up, Mike is very surprised, and at that moment, things were getting better in his life on Earth, he did not want to leave now and give it all up. The girl he liked, Katelyn, had finally become close to him and wanted to be “more than friends” and other than that, he was feeling less weird and different. Unfortunately, the aliens become enraged when Mike informs them that he does not want to leave Earth anymore, some even try to attack him. Others are friendly and understanding. Things get really bad when a Jong named Lord Blade comes to take Mike away. The worst part is that he does not only want Mike, but Katelyn too. I really enjoyed reading this book because it is filled with humor as much as drama. Mike Pillsbury is a very fun and entertaining character. There is a lot of action going on in this book, and the reader is constantly introduced to a new character. It’s hard to stop reading once you start because the author always leaves you in suspense. In my opinion, Mike is a good influence on children because he did not give up, even at his worst times. He encourages persistence and determination.
March 12, 2009
Mike Pillsbury has always felt like an alien from another planet. When life on Earth becomes too much, he sends out an intergalactic call for help. To his mild surprise several interesting creatures come to his rescue.
November 25, 2009
Mike Pillsbury - very intelligent - doesn't fit in with other kids. Thinks he may be an alien. He sends a message out to space and "opens up a can of worms" as many types arrive to rescue him. Funny book, some romance, exiting.
Read
May 18, 2014I like the book because I can relate with mike, because we have all felt like we don't belong at I've point it another, but there will always be someone who makes you feel like you DO belong. At first the book was easy to follow but it got confusing and hard to follow. But, I still enjoyed the book
April 6, 2009
I enjoyed this book (kept wondering if the kid was schizophrenic) and believe it would be great for middle school kids.
August 28, 2010
This book is well-written and fun to read. Mark Pillsbury writes with humor and passion, making this book a good one for kids and early teens. The Disney Channel movie does not do the book justice!
November 3, 2012
been a while since I read it, my favorite from like grade school.
for sci-fi fan kids who feel different.
for sci-fi fan kids who feel different.
May 1, 2013
As you can see this has aliens and let me just tell you, this is the biggest can of worms you could possibly open. For those who love sci-fi and "What is out there" people I recommend this book.
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April 17, 2015So far the book is good!!!!!!
August 6, 2015
It was definitely a book for kids. My 5th grader will very much enjoy it. It was a good story, but too much was left unexplained. You were just expected to accept it without any reason to.
September 28, 2008
His father calls him Buck he plays for a football team at Ash B.Middle School .
March 30, 2017
that ending
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews