ALIEN FOR RENT
by Betsy Duffey
A fun short novel from Duffey (Virtual Cody, 1997, etc.), who takes on the ever-popular upper-elementary topic of aliens. The ghostly green sign on the school bulletin board intrigues J.P. and Lexie, who decide to find out whether its promise, an alien for rent for two gugentocks an hour, is real. When they get to the playground to meet their alien, Bruce, the fifth-grade bully, stands ready to punch J.P. Lexie calls out for help, and she gets it; Bruce turns a bright green and hangs suspended above the ground, then turns into an oversized infant. The alien has come to their rescue, in exchange for the gugentocks—Twinkies—in Lexie’s lunchbox. It’s all fairly silly, offering a few chuckles for readers in search of an unintimidating read. (Fiction. 7-10)