I love science fiction and dystopian books with a setting to which I can relate. Nathan is in sixth grade in New York City, and his family is slightly different. His mom manages everything in Nathan's life like a science experiment. The weird things their family does get weirder when Nathan discovers he has a tail. This is where this book starts to feel like "A Wrinkle in Time." This is a fast-paced middle-grade novel about aliens, family, friendship, and adventure. If you enjoyed "The First State of Being", you will enjoy this novel.

An alien boy who just wants to be normal, but that's pretty difficult when you grow a tail one day. The parents are keeping secrets, his friends could never understand, and even his cat is spying on him. Sounds like normal life for a middle schooler. This title has plenty of action and mystery to keep kids reading.

Sixth-grade Nathan from New York knows he and his parents are aliens. He hates that he can’t divulge more to his soul-brother, Victor. Each month, he meets with his nine”friends” until some of them start disappearing, alarming Nathan especially when his “girlfriend” Isabel from Illinois goes missing. When Nathan starts to grow a tail, the D.P. (Decommissioned Parents) come for him to return him to the Wagon. Nathan desperately wants to find Izzy, and in his pursuit, he discovers everything is not as it seems. This middle-grade novel has twists and turns to keep readers interested, with the bonus of great writing.

Nathan and his parents are from another planet and he has been raised on Earth as an experiment to see if the they can survive and pass as human. His mom keeps careful notes on his behavior and everything he eats so there is exact data to work with. As other kids in the experiment start to go missing and Nathan has an unexpected development in his own life, his family goes back to the ship where his parents grew up.

This book keeps the reader engaged in trying to figure out what is going on and who to trust. I enjoyed reading it and its exploration of the concept of questioning what you have always believed and accepting new truths. I would have liked some more at the end fleshing out how everyone feels and deal with the events of the book but overall it was well wrapped up.

This was a fun read about a 6th-grade alien living as a normal kid on Earth. But is Nathan an alien? Are Nathan and his parents all part of an experiment? Nathan seeks to find the truth with the help of his best friend, Victor, and other kids who are part of the experiment. References to Calvin and Hobbes and the amazing cats Nathan encounters add some levity and fun. Fans of Stead will not be disappointed. Thanks NetGalley for sending it my way.

6th grader Nathan has always known that he and his parents were not human and their purpose was to stay undetected and simply live life along with the other families just like his, scattered in various places in the US. But something is happening. Several of the almost teen aliens, called Kast have disappeared and are no longer attending the regular Zoom meetups and more alarming, Nathan is growing a tail. This alarming event has been reported, along with how often Nathan uses the special pink toothpaste, how much he eats, sleeps and poops, to Hester aboard what is referred to as “The Wagon.”

What follows is a fast paced journey of discovery for Nathan, his parents and the tail now being called Tuck. Author Rebecca Stead keeps her book to under 300 pages but still fully develops a close friendship between Nathan and classmate Victor, a supportive parents and even a distinct personality in the family cat! There are touches of humor, plenty of warmth and so, so much speculation and mystery surrounding the experiment begun by the alien Kast race, and Nathan’s tail…which, by the way, resembles that of Calvin of the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, a particular favorite of Nathan and Victor’s.

Representation: Nathan’s mom reports that all the aliens posing as humans have different shades of skin just like in the human population but the physical characteristics of most characters are not described. Victor’s family includes a wonderful grandmother who lives with them. One of the pre-teen aliens lives with her widowed father.

Great choice for libraries serving grades 4-7. Text is free of profanity, sexual content and violence. Suggested for those who enjoyed Aliens on Vacation & the other two in the Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast series by Clete Smith and Gibbs’ Moon Base Alpha.

I loved this book. It was a fun read and made you think about what it means to be human and the importance of friendships and loyalty. While I am not the target audience for this book I think even adults would enjoy this book.

Nathan is a more-or-less typical 6th grader who loves Calvin and Hobbes and hanging out with his friends. But he and his family - and nine other families spread out across the United States - have a secret: they're from another planet. They're part of a long, ongoing experiment run by Hester, a mysterious and apparently ageless woman in red. Nathan and his family have been living on Earth for years as part of this experiment, until the day Hester calls them back to the Wagon - their spaceship. Nathan has no idea what is going to happen once they reach the Wagon, but he knows it has something to do with him.

This is a really wonderful and fast-paced coming-of-age adventure story. The kids in the story act and talk like real kids, and the alien element of the story is pretty original and fun. Highly recommended for middle-grade children who like light science fiction with quirky, relatable characters.

A delightfully weird story with a lot of heart from an author that I've always loved. Highly recommended!

I. Needed a book that could take me to another world. This book did that for me. It was a crazy mixture of realistic and bizarre in the best ways. I loved that it made me think even after it was over.