Light Years From Home; by MichaelBrent Collings

This book was delightfully cute! This YA space “thriller” reads almost like a sitcom, where the aliens look like the Pac-Man ghosts, the jocks are overly brawny, the nerds overly brainy, and the key to saving the galaxy as we know it is the love and innocence of an eight-year-old girl. Which can, at times, put this book on the younger side of the YA side of things, but more on that in a bit. We are told the story of young Max, his two friends, and little sister being abducted in a humorous 1st person POV after the fact. As in, the book starts at an inciting incident, Max says, “ok, but let’s back up and see how we got here”, and hijinks ensue. It all starts following a trip to Muir National Forest gone very wrong—including a pair of the most over the top “Granola Twins” in existence. The book is charming in it’s silly, over the top humor and scenarios—including many a bathroom joke. Although, I will say that having read all the books and seen the media this book claims as comps, it’s not a very accurate picture.

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Click here tThere is a lot of action in this intergalactic space adventure—but it’s not like the Hunger Games. The suspense was mild compared to what you get in Scythe, and, in fact, it did feel like it took a bit too long for the book to get back to the scene the story started with (like you don’t really get to the opening scene again until well past the 60% mark). And yes, it has the kid humor of Stranger Things and the Goonies, but I’d say the strong kid friendship and sibling love is more on par to those comps than the humor itself. To me, the book read like it should have a television laugh track playing, which isn’t a bad thing at all! Too often you find first encounter stories where the kid main characters are in a bleak predicament from the get-go and the book veers more heavily into a horror genre. The situation Max and his friends find themselves in is dire and definitely feels unfair at times, but the way Max tells the story makes it so it never felt bleak or scary—which makes it even better for younger YA audiences. The aliens are funny—both in appearance and with their initial miscommunication with the earthlings—and the arc Max goes through with his jock bestie, the girl of his dreams, and his adorable little sister is truly touching.

The relationship Max has with his little sister is really lovely in this story and is such a good example for healthy big brother, little sister relationships that I wish I had read this when I was younger! And while most of the scenarios and the reactions everyone has (including the aliens) can be really over the top, the sweet sibling relationship never suffered for it. The author does a fabulous job writing and capturing the awkward transition from child to pre-teen and teen in a way that didn’t constantly make me, an adult, cringe. Another point in the favor of adults reading this to their young readers at home! In fact, my only true complaint is that a lot of the alien powers can be disorienting. Some seem to pop up very conveniently and were not introduced in anyway until the moment their “powers” were needed, and then not fully explained, but that’s the fantasy lover in me and why I am still giving this book 5 stars. And thanks to the author for providing a copy for me to review!