Review: Mission One of Auggie The Alien

Title: Mission One of Auggie the Alien

Authors: Leah Spiegel and Megan Summers

Publisher: Createspace

Published: June 4, 2013

Format: Kindle

Pages: 120

Source: Received in exchange for an honest review

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Synopsis: This is the humorous story of a 4th grader, seen through the eyes of a human hybrid alien child, sent to Earth to study our culture - to see if they could coexist with the humans.

Auggie has to try and understand 4th graders slang, body language, and the unwritten protocols of the classroom; all in an attempt to blend in. He upsets his teacher, Mrs. Malumrector, who constantly thinks Auggie’s trying to get smart with her when getting stupid with her would be counterproductive. Not only does Mrs. Malumrector not get Auggie’s literal logic, nor do any of the other students in his class. That is except for Left Hand Chuck who thinks Auggie’s hysterical and helps him by teaching him how to use human slang. 

But if Auggie truly wants to complete his mission of blending in with the other children he needs to cheer for both teams, except if they’re losing. He needs to learn not to wear the ‘P and the J’ with the feet conveniently attached to school because they’re for sleeping in only. That ironically enough, Grandpa isn’t going to faint from low blood pressure even though his eyes often tend to roll upwards whenever Auggie is speaking. ‘Pop-a-Squat’ isn’t a good name for a dog, even though he’s great at it. And under no circumstance is he to bring his pet to school even if his teacher has her own pet there, Emily, another student in his class who is neither a gerbil nor a fish.

My Rating:  5 Stars

Melissa's Musings:

This is a very cute story of Auggie, a half human half alien hybrid child from "a galaxy far far away" who has been sent to earth for onsite observations, to see if his kind can peacefully co-exist with humans. We follow him as he accomplishes the three very  important goals he's set for himself: to be invited to a sleepover, to go on a social outing with more than one friend, and to be invited to a birthday party.

This book is laugh out loud funny. I really grew to like Auggie's quirks and idiosyncracies as I read through the story. In some ways, he reminded me (a little) of a young version of Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory. I couldn't quite picture Auggie physically in my head as I read, but that was okay because his antics and smarts certainly kept me entertained. 

I don't read children's books too often, but it was neat to look at the world through Auggie's eyes. His unusual responses to events and the way he handled them were refreshing. As an adult reader it made me wish I could be a kid with such enthusiasm and zest for life as Auggie has.

There are some great plays on words and fun scenes in this book. If you're looking for a new series to start reading with a child in your life, I'd definitely recommend this one.