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Alien in My Pocket #1
Alien in My Pocket #1: Blast Off!
2015-2016 Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award Winner! With engaging illustrations on every spread, a page-turning plot, a do-it-yourself experiment on building your own rocket, and fun science facts throughout, this is the perfect chapter book for young readers! And it’s all from the amazing brain of MIT graduate Nate Ball, host of PBS’s Emmy Award-winning Design Squad series. When a four-inch-tall alien crash-lands through Zack McGee's bedroom window, Zack is sure he's about to become the first victim in a new War of the Worlds. But when the alien turns out to have weapons that are more ticklish than terrifying, Zack realizes that rather than protect the world from the alien, it's up to him to protect the alien in his pocket from the world. The adventure begins in this thrilling new chapter book series, complete with a do-it-yourself science experiment!
160 pages, Hardcover
First published January 7, 2014
120 people are currently reading
255 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
July 21, 2015
We meet Zack, the main character, after he has fallen asleep at his desk studying for the first science quiz of his 4th Grade career. He spots a shooting star and quickly wishes:
After making his wish Zack realizes the shooting star is NOT fading. It's getting bigger. And coming closer!
Zack is thrilled when his "shooting star" turns out to be a spaceship containing a small, blue alien named Amp from the planet Erde. Until, that is, Amp informs him there is an Erde attack force ready to invade Earth. If Amp and Zack can't fix Amp's ship and get him home in time to stop the invasion Earth and Erde will be at war.
Oh--and Amp figures they need to get this done by 4:40 pm the following afternoon.
Blast Off! has some genius scenes of slapstick humor sprinkled throughout the story. Zack is likeable and his neighbor and sort-of friend, Olivia, shows a lot of promise as a wise-cracking sidekick.
This first book in the Alien in My Pocket series has silliness and science exploding from its pages. This is a perfect choice for a 6-9 year-old-reader who loves science--particularly space and rockets. The book includes directions for building your own rocket after reading about Zack, Olivia and Amp's attempts (both failures and successes). The combination of humor and hands-on interactive ideas make Blast Off! a great companion to a classroom science unit about space travel or mechanics of rocketry.
1) to make the travel baseball team
2) to get better grades; and
3) to avoid detention all year
After making his wish Zack realizes the shooting star is NOT fading. It's getting bigger. And coming closer!
Zack is thrilled when his "shooting star" turns out to be a spaceship containing a small, blue alien named Amp from the planet Erde. Until, that is, Amp informs him there is an Erde attack force ready to invade Earth. If Amp and Zack can't fix Amp's ship and get him home in time to stop the invasion Earth and Erde will be at war.
Oh--and Amp figures they need to get this done by 4:40 pm the following afternoon.
Blast Off! has some genius scenes of slapstick humor sprinkled throughout the story. Zack is likeable and his neighbor and sort-of friend, Olivia, shows a lot of promise as a wise-cracking sidekick.
This first book in the Alien in My Pocket series has silliness and science exploding from its pages. This is a perfect choice for a 6-9 year-old-reader who loves science--particularly space and rockets. The book includes directions for building your own rocket after reading about Zack, Olivia and Amp's attempts (both failures and successes). The combination of humor and hands-on interactive ideas make Blast Off! a great companion to a classroom science unit about space travel or mechanics of rocketry.
June 16, 2015
I thought that this was a funny book!! I love how Amp (the alien) was always a little grumpy but he made me laugh a lot !!!! This is a great book and if you read it i hope that you enjoyed it too!! Thanks
March 7, 2016
This was a kind of cute book. Good science stuff wrapped up in a cute story.
My son liked it though and thought their were some funny parts, especially when the alien created a diversion at school.
My son liked it though and thought their were some funny parts, especially when the alien created a diversion at school.
July 11, 2015
A creative book for the 7-8 year old just venturing into chapter books but honestly not worthy of being a MHL nominee.
December 3, 2023
I read Alien In My Pocket for a Graduate course in youth literature. The author is Nate Ball and the illustrator is Macky Pamintuan. It is the first book in the chapter book series. It is the 2015-2016 Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award Winner. The book is about fourth-grader Zack McGee who encounters a small, blue alien, Amp, when his spaceship crashes through Zack's bedroom window one night. Amp realizes that humans are much bigger than he calculated and decides he needs to call off his planet's invasion of Earth due to this realization. In order to do this, Amp needs to get back to his planet, Erde, to inform the council members to cancel the invasion. However, Amp's spaceship needs to be repaired. The next day, Amp hides in Zack's backpack as Zack goes to school in hopes of finding a material called tungsten to repair his spaceship. While at school, Amp helps Zack by using his alien powers to hypnotize the school bully and the principal. After learning about Amp, Olivia, Zack's neighbor helps take necessary supplies from the science lab to help fix the spaceship. While experimenting with the materials to fix the rocket, Zack and Olivia learn about such concepts as air pressure and propulsion. Zack, who is not a successful student, especially compared to his brother, ends up being very knowledgeable about rocket science at the end of the book, thanks to Amp and his spaceship. Zack gains favor with his parents and develops a new interest. A spaceship crashing into a boy's bedroom window with a small, blue alien inside aligns with the characteristics of science fiction. The description of Zack's home life as well as the typical details that characterize an elementary school, such as the ringing of the bell, are provided. These details add humor as the alien tries to understand and make sense of the unfamiliar world around him. The book projects ideas about possible life forms on other planets, and if these life forms can be helpful to humans. Amp's mind-controlling powers are also explored. Controlling others minds has been done with the use of hypnotism and in this sense is not completely out of the ordinary, which is another reason the book is science fiction. The illustrations are few, but add meaning to the text through the facial expressions of the characters. They are black and white sketches that have a cartoon style. The book is ideal for children in second through fifth grade. Children will enjoy the real-life scenarios of home life and school and will be able to relate to the pressures of academic achievement and social issues, such as being laughed at or encounters with a bully. I think children will find Amp to be a funny yet helpful sidekick that they would want to have to help them cope with day to day dilemmas. I think children try to have something similar to Amp when creating "imaginary friends". I think the book would be a good choice for independent reading. It can also be used in a guided reading group. Discussing what characteristics make it science fiction and comparing it to books with fantasy genres will help students to learn the difference between the two.
December 4, 2019
Book Title: Alien in My Pocket: Blast Off!
Author/Illustrator: Nate Ball / Macky Pamintuan
Reading Level: 4.6
Book Level: Grades 1-4
Book Summary: "Alien in my Pocket: Blast off" is a fun children's novel, built around common-core science and fun hands-on experiments, meant to interest students in science. The main character, Zach, finds himself in a situation where we needs to help a crash-landed alien find his way back home, through a home built rocket.
Bookshelf Genre:
Science Fiction
Bookshelf Mentor Writing Traits
Ideas: This would be a useful mentor text to teach students about how author's utilize the writing train of "Ideas". In my classroom, after we have read this book, I would task my with taking one of the ideas or concepts they are learning about in another class and trying to make a comic strip out of the idea - just how this book took common-core ideas around science to make a fun short story for children on homemade soda bottle rocket building.
Other Suggestions: In my classroom, I would try to align the reading of this book for weeny 9th grade students are building their Soda Rockets in their physical science class. This book would be a perfect bridge to that unit and could help peak my students' interest in the topic.
Author/Illustrator: Nate Ball / Macky Pamintuan
Reading Level: 4.6
Book Level: Grades 1-4
Book Summary: "Alien in my Pocket: Blast off" is a fun children's novel, built around common-core science and fun hands-on experiments, meant to interest students in science. The main character, Zach, finds himself in a situation where we needs to help a crash-landed alien find his way back home, through a home built rocket.
Bookshelf Genre:
Science Fiction
Bookshelf Mentor Writing Traits
Ideas: This would be a useful mentor text to teach students about how author's utilize the writing train of "Ideas". In my classroom, after we have read this book, I would task my with taking one of the ideas or concepts they are learning about in another class and trying to make a comic strip out of the idea - just how this book took common-core ideas around science to make a fun short story for children on homemade soda bottle rocket building.
Other Suggestions: In my classroom, I would try to align the reading of this book for weeny 9th grade students are building their Soda Rockets in their physical science class. This book would be a perfect bridge to that unit and could help peak my students' interest in the topic.
July 13, 2021
I was looking for a short novel to read to a grade 1/2 class. Based on the reviews I decided to pick this one and after finishing I am still undecided whether this is a little over-the-heads of grade 1/2 or at least grade 1. Still, they seemed to like it, but some of the scientific explanations about propulsion and whatnot left me feeling I was losing some. I think that I would have used this for more of a grade three level. However, looking back there were a lot of cartoons that I enjoyed as a kid that there was no way I was understanding half the jokes being told, so who knows?
This is just a quick little story that is not trying to reinvent the wheel. A space alien the size of your thumb lands on earth planning to take over the planet without realizing the limitations due to their size. His spaceship breaks down and he has to get back to his alien friends to warn them of the danger. The story was a little weak here because the aliens did have the ability to control minds, so their size really shouldn't have been a factor. A couple of grade four kids help the little alien and so begins some of the science lessons. This is the first in a series of at least eight books. Overall, it was not too bad, but I wouldn't run out to buy the second one.
This is just a quick little story that is not trying to reinvent the wheel. A space alien the size of your thumb lands on earth planning to take over the planet without realizing the limitations due to their size. His spaceship breaks down and he has to get back to his alien friends to warn them of the danger. The story was a little weak here because the aliens did have the ability to control minds, so their size really shouldn't have been a factor. A couple of grade four kids help the little alien and so begins some of the science lessons. This is the first in a series of at least eight books. Overall, it was not too bad, but I wouldn't run out to buy the second one.
July 5, 2017
James (age 8) says: "I liked it because, well, everyone in his family was a science nerd except Zack, and suddenly a blue alien crashes his spaceship into Zack's room. He's mad at his big brother because his brother makes fun of him for not being able to invent anything. And then he learns a lot of stuff from the alien that even his dad doesn't know. They didn't even know that aliens existed. I would like to read more books in this series because it left off in an exciting spot."
May 1, 2019
Totally worth the money
I give this 100% it’s an amazing funny book. When I first got this book for a school challenge I thought it would be like a cheesy sci-fi book ! But I got sucked in right when we meet Amp . I like Nate ball’s visualization of Amp the 3 fingered blue alien or Erdian I am so glad I was asked to read this book ! Thank you Nate ball for sharing your amazing story with us!! !😃😀😁😆👍🏻
I give this 100% it’s an amazing funny book. When I first got this book for a school challenge I thought it would be like a cheesy sci-fi book ! But I got sucked in right when we meet Amp . I like Nate ball’s visualization of Amp the 3 fingered blue alien or Erdian I am so glad I was asked to read this book ! Thank you Nate ball for sharing your amazing story with us!! !😃😀😁😆👍🏻
March 7, 2020
Zack has a small blue alien crash land in his room one night. Amp sneaks into school with him and creates havoc. Zack and his friend Olivia try to help him get back to Erde by building rockets. Zack is in 4th grade, but reading level and interest would probably work for k-2. Bottle rockets would make a great activity.
August 31, 2025
I’m mixed on my review of this book. I thought it was going to be a cute early chapter book but the science and words were a little above that. The chemistry language was a little above the reading level I thought this would be appropriate for. I think it is a cute premise for an early reader or good to include the chemistry in a story but it needs to be one or the other.
September 3, 2017
Fourth grader Zack McGee has to figure out how to help tiny alien Amp get back to his home planet in order to prevent the tiniest, cutest earth invasion ever.
Appropriate for 6-9 year olds who love space, rockets, books easy to read, and dumb jokes.
Read in preparation for OBOB2018.
Appropriate for 6-9 year olds who love space, rockets, books easy to read, and dumb jokes.
Read in preparation for OBOB2018.
October 6, 2017
One of OBOB's 2017-18 books for 3-5 grade group. As an adult I had trouble getting into this book, even though it was so short and accessible. About half-way through it became more engaging. I love the idea of a book series with accompanying STEM engagement!
December 4, 2017
This book is part of the OBOB reading list for 3-5 grade this year. My daughter and I read it together. It's a good little story with great characters and some science tossed into the plot. We enjoyed it. Super quick read!
March 12, 2018
Perfect for the 3rd grade reader OBOB pick - fun - easy and some action...while it wasn't my favorite of 2018 picks it was a cute story for young readers about an alien who is snarky, lands on earth and with help is trying to stop the end of Earth.
January 18, 2020
A little bit harder and longer for a starter chapter book. Large font and some pictures. Sci-fi. 136 pg. Fun science experiment at end.
Main character is Zach, a fourth grader. His best friend is neighbor and classmate, Olivia.
Main character is Zach, a fourth grader. His best friend is neighbor and classmate, Olivia.
May 6, 2022
Super cute story – I listened to it on audiobook with my 5yo during our drives. I was disappointed to discover at the end that it is a series, and I'm not sure if she has the attention span to continue it. I love the way science facts are interwoven into the story.
August 13, 2017
OBOB 2018, book 10. Cute, fun and quick read. I liked the science content and experiment suggestion.
August 30, 2017
Easy to read and fast paced. I like the inclusion of science in the story.
October 1, 2017
Nathan enjoyed this story about a little blue alien named Amp who crashes into little boy's bedroom. Trouble and adventures ensue.
February 10, 2018
This is a cool book
April 27, 2018
Fast paced fun with some science thrown in.
July 17, 2018
This first book in a series would be a good choice for kids in grades 2-5 who like science and science fiction. There is a real science experiment at the end of the book for kids to try.
February 26, 2019
Terrific book for 1=4 grades.
Very easy to follow, fast moving,and simplistic story line.
Very easy to follow, fast moving,and simplistic story line.
February 26, 2019
Fun, learning experience for wee ones. Slightly dated sensibilities (i.e., school-sanctioned party where grade school kids eat a lot of junk food and drink liters of soda).
July 31, 2019
Childish, boring, stupid. Enforced to read, it was just plain unrealistic. Don’t let your kids or yourself waste time on this stupid catastrophic mess.
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May 21, 20207yo is not a fan. We made it about halfway before he asked that we not read anymore. It's fine but a little dull and the dialogue is eh
June 3, 2020
Alien in my pocket
So far I find this book very interesting and I love the imagery that is included in the writing. Can’t wait to read more!
So far I find this book very interesting and I love the imagery that is included in the writing. Can’t wait to read more!
December 13, 2020
A good story for early readers!
December 24, 2020
The boys enjoyed this far more than I did.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews