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Alien Next Door #8
The Alien Next Door 8: A New Planet
In the eighth book of The Alien Next Door series, Harris and Roxy have stowed away aboard Zeke's spaceship and are flying to his home planet of Tragas!
Harris and Roxy have hidden away Zeke's family's spaceship and are headed to Tragas! Zeke's parents freak out when they discover them aboard, but they've come too far to turn back. So that gives Harris and Roxy two whole days to explore the alien planet with Zeke while the ship refuels before they have to fly back to Earth. But, much like Zeke had to on Earth, they have to blend in. Will they be able to hide the fact that they're the aliens on this new planet?
Harris and Roxy have hidden away Zeke's family's spaceship and are headed to Tragas! Zeke's parents freak out when they discover them aboard, but they've come too far to turn back. So that gives Harris and Roxy two whole days to explore the alien planet with Zeke while the ship refuels before they have to fly back to Earth. But, much like Zeke had to on Earth, they have to blend in. Will they be able to hide the fact that they're the aliens on this new planet?
112 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 4, 2020
9 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 16, 2020
I would recommend it to anyone who likes aliens who are cute. Like my baby sister. I didn't think it was action packed enough. - G, age 7
March 16, 2022
The Alien Next Door is actually not one book, but (to date) eight books that I picked up as a boxed set at Costco last weekend. (The set also included a children's activity book, with pictures to color, writing prompts, etc.) Their titles are The New Kid; Aliens for Dinner?!; Alien Scout; Trick or Cheat?; Baseball Blues; The Mystery Valentine; Up, Up, and Away; and A New Planet.
While each book stands somewhat on its own on the scale of an elementary-level chapter book, the whole series also works together as a continuous story with each individual book as a kind of chapter in it. My father, who got to it before me, read all eight books in one sitting, and was the first to complain that the last one ends abruptly without really resolving the storyline. Actually, his exact words were, "It just goes pbpbpbpbt." I myself managed it in two settings, but they went quickly in terms of total time. I'm glad to report that according to Fantastic Fiction, a ninth book titled The Marvelous Museum is supposed to come out in October 2022. So, I guess this series isn't over yet.
As for the eight books so far, most of them came out in quick succession in 2018 and 2019 and have charming illustrations, featuring an apparently American (or maybe Canadian?) boy named Harris who begins to suspect that the awkward, lonely new kid next door may actually be an alien from outer space. The more sure of this he becomes, the more his family and his best friend, Roxy, think he's just being mean because Zeke is different. But Harris is right; and after the first couple of books, he and Zeke become friends and Harris begins to share in his secret. Harris and Roxy help Zeke learn about such strange human customs as scouting campouts, trick-or-treating, baseball and Valentines.
Then Zeke finds out his parents, Xad and Quar, have finished their research on Earth and they have to move back to the planet Tragas. At first, Harris and Zeke look for a way to delay their departure. In the last book (so far), Harris reveals Zeke's secret to Roxy, and the two of them stow away on the ship and get to experience the "new kid" phenomenon from the other side, disguised as aliens on a strange new world.
Written at an elementary level, the books are simple and light but they also carry themes, such as being kind to people who are different from you, not cheating or taking shortcuts. They look at American(?) cultural customs in a humorous light, with charm, goofy humor and an occasional flash of wit. The weirdness of Tragas and its cultural customs comes in for some imaginative treatment, too, modeling Harris and Roxy's openness to having new experiences and, of course, their loyal friendship with Zeke. I feel even better recommending these books knowing that there's more to come.
A.I. Newton is also the author of the "Little Olympians" series, also illustrated by Sarkar, in which kid-sized Greek gods go to camp to learn how to use their powers and get along together. Their titles, up to the most recent release, are Zeus, God of Thunder; Athena, Goddess of Wisdom; Hermes, the Fastest God; and Artemis, the Archer Goddess. I can't actually find any information online about A.I. Newton as a human being. For all I know, he may be a fictitious pen-name, maybe with a whole list of author credits under another name.
About illustrator Anjan Sarkar, I've learned that he's a British illustrator of Indian heritage who has contributed art to such books as Rum Pum Pum by David L. Harrison and Jane Yolen, Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas by Pamela Ehrenberg, and Level Up! Last One Standing by Tom Nicoll, among 20-some books.
While each book stands somewhat on its own on the scale of an elementary-level chapter book, the whole series also works together as a continuous story with each individual book as a kind of chapter in it. My father, who got to it before me, read all eight books in one sitting, and was the first to complain that the last one ends abruptly without really resolving the storyline. Actually, his exact words were, "It just goes pbpbpbpbt." I myself managed it in two settings, but they went quickly in terms of total time. I'm glad to report that according to Fantastic Fiction, a ninth book titled The Marvelous Museum is supposed to come out in October 2022. So, I guess this series isn't over yet.
As for the eight books so far, most of them came out in quick succession in 2018 and 2019 and have charming illustrations, featuring an apparently American (or maybe Canadian?) boy named Harris who begins to suspect that the awkward, lonely new kid next door may actually be an alien from outer space. The more sure of this he becomes, the more his family and his best friend, Roxy, think he's just being mean because Zeke is different. But Harris is right; and after the first couple of books, he and Zeke become friends and Harris begins to share in his secret. Harris and Roxy help Zeke learn about such strange human customs as scouting campouts, trick-or-treating, baseball and Valentines.
Then Zeke finds out his parents, Xad and Quar, have finished their research on Earth and they have to move back to the planet Tragas. At first, Harris and Zeke look for a way to delay their departure. In the last book (so far), Harris reveals Zeke's secret to Roxy, and the two of them stow away on the ship and get to experience the "new kid" phenomenon from the other side, disguised as aliens on a strange new world.
Written at an elementary level, the books are simple and light but they also carry themes, such as being kind to people who are different from you, not cheating or taking shortcuts. They look at American(?) cultural customs in a humorous light, with charm, goofy humor and an occasional flash of wit. The weirdness of Tragas and its cultural customs comes in for some imaginative treatment, too, modeling Harris and Roxy's openness to having new experiences and, of course, their loyal friendship with Zeke. I feel even better recommending these books knowing that there's more to come.
A.I. Newton is also the author of the "Little Olympians" series, also illustrated by Sarkar, in which kid-sized Greek gods go to camp to learn how to use their powers and get along together. Their titles, up to the most recent release, are Zeus, God of Thunder; Athena, Goddess of Wisdom; Hermes, the Fastest God; and Artemis, the Archer Goddess. I can't actually find any information online about A.I. Newton as a human being. For all I know, he may be a fictitious pen-name, maybe with a whole list of author credits under another name.
About illustrator Anjan Sarkar, I've learned that he's a British illustrator of Indian heritage who has contributed art to such books as Rum Pum Pum by David L. Harrison and Jane Yolen, Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas by Pamela Ehrenberg, and Level Up! Last One Standing by Tom Nicoll, among 20-some books.
February 15, 2023
Interesting. I expected this to be the end of the series, but the end of this book implies otherwise. It's not much of a spoiler to say that this basically ends on a cliffhanger. Zekelebraxis has been on Earth with his parents, Xad and Quar (dad and mom) so his parents could study Earthlings and life on Earth. after 6 books, it was time for Zeke, Xad, and Quar to return to Tragas, their home planet. Zeke's Earth friends, Harris and Roxy, tag along in a compartment. Till book 7, Roxy did not believe Zeke was an alien. Harris originally was suspicious and kept trying to prove that Zeke and his parents were aliens, but that all stopped when Zeke revealed that Harris was actually right in book 2(?). I do hope this is not the last book in this series. The way this book ends, it would be very unfortunate for the story if the author didn't or wasn't allowed to release at least one more book. Seeing the cover of this book, I admit that it kind of gave it away that Zeke's Earth friends were probably going to be seeing Tragas somehow. Tragas, with the illustrations by Anjan Sarkar, actually looks like a place I wouldn't mind visiting. It's kooky. I'm not at all sure about their food, though. Anyway, I'm gonna give this one 4 stars.
April 26, 2025
Harris and Zeke are back at it again, this time to visit Zeke the alien’s home planet, Tragas! While accidentally trapped in the spaceship that Zeke and his parents were on to go back to Tragas after their research on Earth, both Harris and Roxy were able to see what Tragas is like in real life and not just from Zeke describing it to them.
I have enjoyed reading the other books from this series and in particular this book. However, I rated this book lower as I wished the book was colored for readers to see how Tragas looked like. With it being black and white, it is no different than reading over and over again what Tragas is like from Zeke. Also there were many typos in the book… I don’t remember what other book in the series also had either incomplete sentences or typos, but this one was quite noticeable.
Other than that, I look forward to reading the next one!
I have enjoyed reading the other books from this series and in particular this book. However, I rated this book lower as I wished the book was colored for readers to see how Tragas looked like. With it being black and white, it is no different than reading over and over again what Tragas is like from Zeke. Also there were many typos in the book… I don’t remember what other book in the series also had either incomplete sentences or typos, but this one was quite noticeable.
Other than that, I look forward to reading the next one!
March 17, 2023
This wasn't my favorite of the series. Roxie and Harris sneak on to the spaceship and go to Tragas. There was a lot of extreme sci fi, keyboard smash names, etc. that felt over the top. They did nothing to contact their parents on earth and I hated that!
January 12, 2022
Fun to see Tragas, but not m favorite book in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 2, 2024
Cute kid series. Miss read them to Harry. First 8 Books in donation pile now.☺️
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews