
Aoleon The Martian Girl: A Science Fiction and Fantasy Saga - Part 1 First Contact

This was definitely a book that would challenge its middle-grade readers with (unless they're big sci-fi fans) words that they probably haven't heard before. This could be a good or a bad thing. On one hand, its easy to appreciate the challenge laid out in some of the bigger words, and I'm all for trying to expand kids' vocabulary. However, 'temporal field displacement' , 'isomorphic projection', and 'post-plasma beam manifestation' are pretty heavy phrases for middle-grade kids (especially on the lower end).
I liked that it also referenced stuff that appealed to adults as well,such as the references to Back to the Future and Aliens. Also the famous (but changed) lines from Star Wars, Wizard of Oz, etc. The humor was definitely perfect for the age range (and most of it appealed to me, too, so I'm not sure what that says about me.) I outright giggled at one particular line "NORAD - uh - we have cows, sir!"
While it was a little slow to get started, once the action started it was practically non-stop, and peppered with humorous lines and/or scenes that would easily keep an older child focused on what they were reading. The violence that is mentioned is more along the lines of rockets being fired (and missing), and the most horrible thing that happens is person gets squished by a falling cow.
I did feel that the CGI illustrations were not well done, sometimes even looking outright awkwardly rendered, and added nothing to the story that traditional illustrations would not have taken care of. I disagreed with the representation of all adults as bumbling idiots, but kids would love it, so its not necessarily a critique, just a reviewers note.
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Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author for review consideration.