Camp Alien

Alien Agent #2

by Pamela F. Service, Mike Gorman (Illustrator)

Zack knows he's not a normal kid. He's really an alien agent-in-training, brought to Earth to help guide the planet into the Galactic Union. Aliens follow him to a ritzy summer camp, where he's hooked up with Vraj, a huge, dinosaur-like creature on her first-ever assignment. Their mission: To get back a bunch of alien Duthwi eggs that, if hatched, can harm Earth. Their problem: Lots of eggs, too little time, and those bad guys are still after them. So what's a young alien to do?

Genres: Middle Grade, Science Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Born in Berkeley, California, Pamela F. Service grew up loving to hear, read, and tell stories - particularly about weird stuff. Pamela earned a BA in Political Science from UC Berkeley followed by an MA in history and archaeology from the University of London.

She spent many years living in Bloomington, Indiana, writing, serving on the city council, and being curator of a history museum. She has a grown daughter, Alex, who is also a museum curator. Pamela is now living in Eureka, California, where she writes, works as a museum curator, and acts in community theater.

Reviews

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome illustrated science fiction for the lower middle grade set -- a step above a chapter book, but still funny, engaging, with lots of illustrations. My two kiddos loved these!

[Ben Bowers · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️💫
It was a good book for adventure but it wasn’t my favorite.

[Eva Mitnick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Young Zack grew up thinking he was a human kid adopted by loving human parents, but as he found out in book 1 of this series, he is actually an alien agent placed on Earth to prepare humans for future membership in the Galactic Union. As Zack tells us, "I was numb for a few weeks after learning it all , but it's odd how quickly you can get used to things." And now, just as he's looking forward to a normal, fun summer at camp, he gets swept into a mission headed by a young alien cadet named Vraj who bears a startling resemblance to a velociraptor. They must find 100 Duthwi eggs before they hatch into creatures that could cause a worldwide ecological disaster. Complicating the situation are Bad Aliens with Major Weaponry and of course campers of all types.

Zack is the perfect narrator, self-deprecating and prone to the occasional dry comment and eye-roll. He's got some fascinating alien powers, but he's wary and almost embarrassed of them rather than thrilled. The characters, plot, and events are broad without crossing the line into outright goofiness, and Service's absolute command of a certain brisk yet humorous tone (familiar to and loved by SF fans young and old) raises this series above most other SF series for this age group, a good example being the first two sentences of the book:

"Agent Sorn walked to a table in the Galactic Union headquarters cafeteria and plunked down her plate. The cafeteria's gurlg worms were never as crispy as her brood mother used to make them, but they would do."

Good stuff! Recommended for ages 8 to 11.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read! My boys enjoyed it. They have already set aside the third book for me to read to them.

[the boss is awesome · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was advent