Friend or UFO

The Area 51 Files #3

by Julie Buxbaum, Lavanya Naidu (Illustrator)

Sky and her friends tackle their biggest mystery yet—the discovery of Area 52!—in the third installment of this laugh-out-loud, highly illustrated middle grade series by New York Times bestselling author Julie Buxbaum, illustrated by Lavanya Naidu.

Sky’s life in Area 51 is full of surprises. Like the fact that aliens are real—and now one is her best friend! But the biggest surprise yet comes when Sky learns that her grandmother has been kidnapped and is stuck in Area 52, the only other alien portal on Earth. Even more bananas? Her grandma has been an undercover FBAI agent for YEARS. Like Sky’s whole entire life. How could Sky not have known her grandma had a secret identity?

Uncle Anish says to leave this whole mess to him. For reals this time. The kids just have to hang tight. Spoiler The kids do not, and will never, hang tight.

There’s just one No one knows the location of Area 52. In order to solve this mystery and save Sky’s grandma, Sky and her friends will have to solve a series of secret puzzles and codes, traverse the Area 51 library for clues, break into FBAI headquarters, and more. But someone doesn’t want Sky to solve this mystery, and they’ve got their eyes on her…

Genres: Science Fiction, Middle Grade, Humor, Aliens

272 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 16, 2024

About the author

Julie Buxbaum is the New York Times best selling author of Tell Me Three Things, her young adult debut, What to Say Next, Hope and Other Punchlines, and Admission (pubs 5/5/20). She’s also the author of two critically acclaimed novels for adults: The Opposite of Love and After You. Her work has been translated into twenty-five languages. Julie’s writing has appeared in various publications, including The New York Times. She is a former lawyer and graduate of Harvard Law School and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two children, and more books than is reasonable. Visit Julie online at www.juliebuxbaum.com and follow @juliebux on Twitter.

Reviews

[Jaida · Rating 4 out of 5]

˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺⌯⌲˚⋆｡°✩₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺⌯⌲˚⋆｡°✩₊

I'm in the mood for something easy and not romance so I finally read the next book in this series. This is a really cute series if you like middle grade or have a younger brother or sister and sci-fi is something you enjoy I would definitely recommend trying this series out. All the humor is like little boy humor involving bodily fluids of some kind though. I did like this. I just think it's a little young for me personally.

“𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗹𝗲? …𝗪𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝘀!”

All the side character names are ridiculous: Weezie Snotz, Agent Fartz, Hocka Loogie, Ms. Moleratty, Roidrage, Belcher, It's ridiculous! And the Break Through species in Area 51 are also ridiculous. There are the Spotifies that play music with their heads, The Audiotooters who's farts smell like roses, The Splatazoians who are made of slime, and the Sanitizoria who sneeze hand sanitizer. And now I want a code #6155 (Pizza with extra pepperoni)


𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sky ~ I liked her. I don't have much to say she was a good character.

Elvis ~ I really liked him he is honestly adorable and is a great friend.

Mini Elvis ~ He is so cute and so smart!

Zane ~ I didn't like him that much, he was a little weird.

Gertie ~ She was alright but she was kinda annoying sometimes.

Uncle Anish ~ I liked him I guess.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁
👽 IᒪᒪᑌՏTᖇᗩTIOᑎՏ
👽 ՏᑕI-ᖴI
👽 ᗰIᗪᗪᒪᗴ ᘜᖇᗩᗪᗴ
👽 ᖴᖇIᗴᑎᗪՏᕼIᑭ
👽 ᗴᗩՏY TO ᖇᗴᗩᗪ

𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲
~~~~~~~
“I always forget that agent Spalding is a celebrity in Area 51. She ran the FBAI for years, and she's beloved by all the Break Throughs and humans. She's basically like the Taylor Swift of the base. Even if you don't dig her music, you can't help being a fan.”

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁
~~~~~~~
❤️‍🔥𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲| Zane has a crush on Gertie so he stares at her and they both blush a lot, a mention of kissing,

🤬𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲| heck,

🗡️𝗩𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲| none really.

🏳️‍🌈𝗟𝗚𝗕𝗧𝗤| none

✝️ 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻/𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆| Sky is Jewish, mentions of Christmas,

🍷 𝗔𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗵𝗼𝗹/𝗗𝗿𝘂𝗴𝘀| none.

⚠️𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿| Characters twerk, a mention of a pair of thong underwear,

[Amanda Lam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book is really mysterious so if you like mysteries then this is the book for you.

[Deborah Zeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun Area 51 adventure with Sky and her friends. They are trying to figure out how to rescue Sky's Grandma, who they believe has been kidnapped by the residents of Area 52. On top of that Sky learns her Grandma is a secret agent for the FBAI. From there, the fun begins. I love how the reader can jump right into the story without needing to read the other two books (which people should because they are laugh out loud fun, as Sky adapts to living in Area 51.) The story's theme is prevalent throughout the book, the importance of friendship and family and how far will you go to save the one's you love? Looking forward to another book in this series!

[Jame_EReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

👦🏻review: I have been following this series and it feels so good to continue this story. This book is entertaining just like the first two books. Seriously though I haven’t read this series for almost a year and I didn’t feel like I had to read the previous books to refresh my memory. It could be read as a standalone too. Anyway, the storyline is packed with funny characters and unexpected moments. The funniest part is grandma and her identity stuck at Area 52. The adventure is definitely perfect for readers who simply crave for the fun of the journey. Recommending this one!

[Kasey Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sky and her Area 51 team go into overdrive when her grandma goes missing into Area 52. Everyone works together to find and rescue Grandma while also preparing for Drop Day. A fun quick read revisiting Sky, Elvis, and the gang.

[Latoya · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are fun little sci-fi mysteries that we can try to solve before all of the clues unfold. I enjoy this series and I will continue on with the series and see what other high jinks Sky and her gang get into. 3.5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️✨

[BookLoverScar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books so much! They are so fun and fluffy. I hope that’s not the last one. Glad I stumbled onto this series it’s been great.

[Taran Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

great start with a weird ending

[Kelly {SpaceOnTheBookcase] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Friend or UFO is the third book in The Area 51 Files and I've come to adore the characters, the mystery and the greater meanings behind Buxbaum's writing.

Thank you RHKids for the gifted copy.