CAMP ALIEN
by Pamela F. Service and illustrated by Mike Gorman
Having learned in My Cousin, the Alien (2008) that he’s not an ordinary kid but a disguised alien with unusual powers, young Zack is again pressed into service by the Galactic Patrol. It seems that 100 valuable Duthwi eggs have been dropped on Earth near Camp Takhamasack, and it’s up to Zack to rescue them from the clutches of the villainous Gnairt. With help from shy fellow camper Opal (described as “plump” but not looking it in Gorman’s drab ink-and-wash pictures) and Vraj, a Patrol trainee with the looks and temperament of a velociraptor, Zack does the deed—displaying along the way an admirable blend of quick wits, courage and compassion, plus an uncommonly glib tongue. That combination, with generous measures of daffy humor, will get readers past the weak plot—the Duthwi hatch, but then decide to turn themselves back into eggs—and into anticipating Zack’s future exploits. (Science fiction. 9-11)