Tweedlioop

by Stanley Schmidt

He's been tested once, and failed. Now he'd been given a second chance——and every solution would be wrong.

When the ship that brought him to Earth crashed and Tweedlioop (not his real name) was the only survivor, he found himself at the mercy of Earth and its inhabitants. Some were kind and understanding: Bill saved him from wolves in the Alaskan wild; Danni battled authorities for his custody, and Laurie became his one true friend. They all wanted to help him return to his people.
But the US government didn't. They trapped him, to test him, and to hold him hostage. They planned to trade him for the key to his people's stardrive. If his friends could not help him before the ship arrived to rescue him, it would be too late, not just for Tweedlioop but for all of Earth.

A funny, charming, suspenseful story of a shipwrecked alien and the girl who loved him.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

233 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1988

About the author

Stanley Schmidt is an American science fiction author. Between 1978 and 2012 he served as editor of Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine.

Reviews

[Dasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun romp with ridiculous leadership.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Schmidt, Stanley. Tweedlioop. Tor, 1988.
An engineer on vacation in Alaska rescues what appears to be an injured squirrel, but is actually a juvenile alien, the lone survivor of a wrecked spaceship. He cares for the creature he calls Tweedlioop, a sound it makes that turns out to be alien for “help me,” and smuggles it back to Florida, learns to communicate with it through the help of his nine-year-old daughter, and has a friendly doctor check out its injuries. The well-meaning doctor outs him to the government, and the next thing you know, lawyers and the whole apparatus of the military-industrial state are battling him for custody. If it sounds derivative of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), it is. But it is also a journeyman piece of fiction writing that is still entertaining thirty years on from its publication. Schmidt, now 74, is an icon in the science fiction world who served as the editor of Analog from 1978 to 2012.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story of an alien shipwrecked on Earth, and the people who try to help him rejoin his people, will remind a lot of people of the movie "E.T." -- but it is actually much better. The main character is a NASA engineer on a camping trip in Alaska when he sees what appears to be a squirrel but is actually an alien -- and an alien child at that -- whose ship has crashed (there are aliens aboard who did not survive). When the government learns of what has happened, they attempt to hold the alien (nicknamed Tweedlioop) as a bargaining chip, trying to extort information from the elders of his race. It's a great, fast-paced story!

[Peter Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

From old Booklog: "A", excellent, shipwrecked alien child. Sent letter. Read 10-7-89.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my second time reading this book. This time I read it to Mike at night. It was a cute little book about an alien lost on Earth. It wasn't anything new or unique, but it was cute and fun to read to Mike. He's 7, so some of the language and situations were a little more than he could grasp (governmental politics and stuff), but he followed along enough to stay interested and asked questions when there was something he didn't understand, so that was good. There was one 'romantic' section that I skipped while reading to Mike, but it was less than a page and I was able to finish one sentence, skip several paragraphs and pick up with another sentence and absolutely nothing more than a bit of 'under the blankets fun' was missed. I wouldn't recommend this for anyone looking for a stimulating, intellectual read. It's very much in the vein of ET and similar stories, but it was fun and relatively quick and good for younger crowds except for that one scene toward the end. There's also a description of how Bill lost his wife and son in a fire earlier on that anyone reading this to a more sensitive reader may want to skip or gloss over, but Mike handled that part fine.

[Foxtower · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't agree with Darcy that it's "so bad it's good" as I found it entertaining. It certainly could have been better as some of the more interesting characters are lost along the way, but a nice story that had a few surprises thrown in.

[Patience Adella · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a no surprises, not terribly complicated, fun alien book. Mostly kid friendly, with only one minorly romantic scene toward the end. It was a quick read- just a few hours for me. I picked it up because the premise seemed so absurd (an alien squirrel??), but I actually really enjoyed it.

[Holli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Space Squirrels...how can it get any better!