People that know me well would not be surprised to see that I enjoy a book called Only Alien on the Planet. Kristen D. Randle's book, however, is not about a real alien. It is about a boy named Michael, or Smitty, as some people call him. Most just call him "The Alien." His teachers refer to him as absolutely brilliant, but nobody would ever guess for one simple reason: he doesn't talk. He doesn't interact. It's almost as though he really is from another planet.
But everything changes when Ginny meets him. She and Caulder are determined to "socialize" Smitty by asking for his help with homework, taking him to the movies, to parties, etc. But something very weird happens. Smitty leaves in the middle of the movie and runs back home. When Ginny catches him after one movie, she is shocked to see tears running down his cheeks. Smitty is not the emotionless alien everybody thinks he is. Beginning that night, Ginny is about to uncover a terrible secret that has isolated Smitty from the rest of humanity.
Even though I'm a guy, I am not ashamed to admit that this book brought tears to my eyes. Somehow Randle is able to capture emotions in the purest sense to the point where I, as the reader, felt the same emotions as the people in the story. That requires some very good writing. It was almost refreshing to experience those emotions so powerfully. I remember it was drizzling that day and after I read the book I just walked in the rain and pondered on what I read. It touched me that deeply.
Out of all the books I read this last semester, Only Alien on the Planet was one of the best. It is definitely in my top five favorite books of the semester. I highly recommend this book to anyone.
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