I Was a Sixth Grade Alien

Sixth Grade Alien #1

by Bruce Coville, Tony Sansevero (Illustrator)

He came from the stars -- and sixth grade will never be the same!

The aliens have finally made contact! But when the first ambassador from another planet arrives, he insists that his son, Pleskit Meenom, be treated like any other citizen on Earth.

Which is why Pleskit has become the first purple kid in Ms. Weintraub's sixth grade class.

For Tim Tompkins, who has been waiting his entire life to meet an alien, this is like a dream come true. But when Pleskit invites Tim back to the embassy and they stumble across a plan to sabotage the alien mission, Tim's dream becomes a life-threatening nightmare.

Genres: Science Fiction, Childrens, Humor, Young Adult, Aliens, Middle Grade, Young Adult Science Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1999

About the author

Bruce Coville was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1950. His family lived in farm territory, about twenty miles north of Syracuse. Bruce grew up around the corner from his grandparents' dairy farm, where he spent a great deal of time as a child, dodging cows and chores to the best of his ability. As a young reader he loved Mary Poppins and Dr. Dolittle, and still has fond memories of rising ahead of the rest of his family so he could huddle in a chair and read THE VOYAGES OF DR. DOLITTLE. He also read lots of things that people consider junk (Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, and zillions of comic books). His only real regret is the time he spent watching television, when he could have been reading instead. (A mind is a terrible thing to waste!)

His first book, THE FOOLISH GIANT, was published in 1978. It was illustrated by his wife, Katherine, whom he had married in 1969. This was followed in 1979 by SARAH'S UNICORN, also illustrated by Katherine. After a long period of working separately, the Covilles began collaborating again with SPACE BRAT and GOBLINS IN THE CASTLE, both published in 1992.

Before getting published Bruce earned his living as a toymaker, a gravedigger, a cookware salesman, an assembly line worker, and finally as an elementary school teacher (second and fourth grades). He left teaching in 1981 to devote himself to becoming a full time writer - though it took another five years to achieve that goal!)

Bruce has published over 100 books, which have appeared in over a dozen countries around the world and sold more than sixteen million copies. Among his most popular titles are MY TEACHER IS AN ALIEN, INTO THE LAND OF THE UNICORNS, and THE MONSTER'S RING. In 2001 he founded Full Cast Audio, an audiobook company dedicated to creating unabridged, full cast recordings of the best in children's and young adult literature.

Reviews

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need to find words equivalent to "delightful" and "charming" that work to describe boy books.

I'm doing a project on books that would interest reluctant boy readers. I picked this book up at the library figuring it would interest 9-12 year old boys(come on, aliens!), but didn't expect to enjoy it much myself, but the book really surpassed my expectations, turning out to be quite fun. Fun and different and a decent little read. It contained fart jokes here and there (to the delight of the intended audience), but they weren't over the top

I can't figure out exactly what it was about this book that made me like it. Maybe it was just trying to read it in the mind set of the intended audience and thinking how much fun a boy would have with all these aliens and saving the world.

Coville seems to have published widely, so a boy who gets hooked on this series has plenty more to choose from.

[Thompson McLeod · Rating 4 out of 5]

New covers and new illustrations update Bruce Coville's 1999 Sixth-Grade Alien series for a new generation of 2020 readers. Illustrations by Glen Mullaly will keep reluctant readers turning the pages. Do not mistake this series for graphic novels. In fact, there are many less illustrations than books like the Wimpy Kid.

For early middle grade readers to grade six.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun one. Short and cute, fun enough that I’m going to check out the rest of the series. I’ve read lots of Coville books by now, though, and this man’s favorite phrase is “I don’t have the slightest idea.” Lost count of how many times Rod Allbright said it in his books, and now we have Tim in this one.

[Erika Worley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally ridiculous and every alien-loving kid's dream come true!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book I read as a kid, though this one doesnt stand the test of time quiet as well. Weird and fun alien story.

[Emily Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

a surprisingly rich text about bigotry, misinformation in the media, and fear mongering. throw this in the pile of weird stuff i want to adapt into a play.

[Kapila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad I read this. It was funny, action-packed, and not heavy at all on plot or character development, plot structure or believability. I don't know if the Newbery committee would warrant to wipe their arses on this book, had they the chance. And yet, the characters, both purple Pleskit and his new earthling friend, Tim, felt real enough. Some characters had funny names - my favourite being Mikta Makta Mukta. Try saying that 10 times without busting out laughing! The fact that Pleskit came from an alien culture where communication happened not only through speech, but often times with burps, farts and other unpronounceable sounds helps with the hilarity. This really isn't my kind of scifi book, and Coville is no LeGuin. But he is Coville, and that's good enough.

[lucem · Rating 5 out of 5]

CIP: When aliens come to Earth on an interplanetary trade mission, sixth-grader Tim makes friends with the ambassador’s son and together they uncover a plot to sabotage the mission.

A sure-fire hit for boys (and even girls) that love space alien stories! The main character and visiting alien are put in hilarious situations and manage to find their own way out of trouble by solving a mystery. This should also hook readers into the concept of series and have them wanting to read the rest in this series. Would be fun to see as a movie if kept to authors descriptions!

Reviewed in School Library Journal (Jul 2000) and The Booklist (Oct 15, 1999).

[Rocco]

This is by a long shot the very best science fiction novel I have ever read. Never mind how juvenile it is, I LOVE IT! The hole weird flavor of the story was so interesting and new to read when I first read the book in third grade. Soon after I kept on reading the hole series and I started reading some of Bruce Covilles other novels, like the "my teacher is an alien" series and it was out of this world! I would recommend this book to any young adult or child reader that is interested in really really really weird Sci-Fi novels.

[R Leitner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, and the ensuing series, is a great introduction to "lite" science fiction. The series reads a lot like a tv-show, which, in fact, it was. It's fast paced and humorous, and the experiences and characters are close enough to reality, (new cultures, humanistic personality types), that children can relate to them.

[Aza · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a well-written commentary about the state of affairs in America, both politically and socially. Coville apparently carries a strong disdain for -isms and corruption, which he demonstrates by writing a seemingly simple children's story. This is some pretty intense stuff for 8-12 year olds, and I love it.

[Jennifer Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I know the story of this book, I can't imagine it. because this story is about the alien who is going to school. His name is Pleskit, the son of the first alien ambassador to earth. I like this book. It is interesing.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would be a great book for my boys. There are enough fart and belch references to last them all day long. I'm not interested in reading more in the series myself, but I would certainly recommend it to some of my boys.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. It was a good listen because it made me laugh at times, but it was nothing like what I was expecting. I was looking forward to it after reading "My teacher is an alien", but I was disappointed. I won't continue with this series.

[Pokemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

We really enjoyed this as a book on tape.

[K Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine if Aliens came to earth and the first student on earth is in your class. - loved it!

[Sanchita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting for children, I guess.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun!

[Gillena Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleskit the Hevi-Hevian and Tim the earthling are best buds, here on earth. But Pleskit the Hevi-Hevian is expecting another alien [boy] from Hevi-Hevi named Maktel who was his best bud on Hevi-Hevi . The question is how will Tim react to this. Well as it turns out, not good at all. Tim and Maktel dislike each other from the first meeting; leaving Pleskit caught in the middle of a two-best-buds, dilemma.
Events enfold, and Maktel, who is carrying a secret message from his Motherly one, to be delivered only and in person to the Fatherly one of Pleskit, becomes suspicious of the alien trader, a male adult symbiotic being, named Ellico vec But; who, since a symbiotic being, is referred to as 'them' instead of 'him'.
As more events unfold, we the readers are caught unawares in a surprising book ending, of alien kidnapping of the [friends] by Ellico vec Bur.
Bruce Colville doesn't leave us, his readers, satisfied, oh no! he leaves us, with whetted appetites and curious questions.

[Tony Perez Valerie Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hysterical!! Loved it!!