Dragon glares...
Plot: Without his parents or older sister to tell him otherwise, Victor can stay up late and watch television. After news programs and B movies, the lizards arrive. They play music in a strange band for several hours, but no one else seems to see or even know about them. Mystified, Victor slowly finds himself seeking the lizards. Under the guidance of the Chicken Man and Claudia (the chicken), Victor becomes embroiled in a quest to discover the lizards and stop the pod people.
Genre: Science Fiction
Reading Level: Grades 4-9
Similar Titles: My Cousin the Alien, Super Sasquatch Showdown, Fortunately, the Milk
Personal Thoughts: The text blends positives and negatives. On the positive side, the novel includes deadpan humor (similar to Coraline), intriguing characters, over-the-top situations, and creative concepts. However, it also includes dated diction, irrelevant pop culture references, and possibly racist undertones. Whether the positives outweigh the negatives relies heavily on the reader.
One other interesting aspect of the plot was Victor's role. He provides narration for the story, but he is not the primary character. He is absent from the major events throughout the plot, but the reader still only has his perspective. It is a strange sort of reversal from most other tween titles, and the variety adds a subtle, but intriguing, aspect to the text.
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