Friday, October 30, 2015

Alienated

Alienated
By Melissa Landers
Disney Hyperion, 2014. 344 pgs. Young Adult

Cara Sweeney has been busy the last few years fighting her way to the top of her class and preparing to apply for college to become a journalist.  She's been trying to do all of this amidst the upheaval caused when aliens made contact two years ago.  Now Cara has been hand-picked to host the first ever alien exchange student, and it's an opportunity every journalist would kill for.  Unfortunately, when Aelyx arrives, he is cold, infuriatingly brilliant, and disdainful of anything to do with humans.  When Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, threatening notes start appearing in her locker and she must be escorted to classes by a police officer.  But the shared hardship gives Cara and Aelyx some common ground, and they begin to form a tentative friendship.

This was a fun book that will appeal to fans of science fiction and young adult books (with a bit of Pride and Prejudice thrown in there, too).  While the plot may seem a bit predictable, there are a few surprising elements of complexity that keep the story moving along.  This is the first in a series.

BHG

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