Bruce Coville has published more than one hundred books, which have sold more than sixteen million copies. Among his most popular titles are My Teacher Is an Alien, Into the Land of the Unicorns, and The Monster's Ring. Bruce also founded Full Cast Audio, a company that creates recordings of the best in children's and young adult literature. He lives in Syracuse, New York, with his wife, Katherine. Visit him at BruceCoville.com.
Gr 3-7-William Dufris's narration of Bruce Coville's humorous and at times suspenseful story (Minstrel Books, 1999) is an audio tour-de-force. The story of an alien boy's attempt to fit in with other students in an American sixth grade classroom; his friendship with Tim Tomkins, the boy co-narrating the story; and their discovery of a plot to destroy the aliens' mission on Earth has plenty of excitement and funny moments. It is the narration by Dufris which lifts this recording above the ordinary. Giving each character a distinctive and appropriate voice is no mean feat when characters include a literal slime ball, a singing cook whose name sounds a little like the music of a slide whistle, and a blowhard senator who turns out to be an evil alien plotter. Children will enjoy such gross touches as the various farts used by the aliens to communicate (mentioned only, no sound effects) and the explosive vomiting which saves our heroes and the world. Because of these giggle producing details, this is best-suited for individual and family listening. It will be a welcome addition to audiobook collections and will please a broad age and ability range of listeners.-Louise L. Sherman, Anna C. Scott School, Leonia, NJ Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
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