Nancy Robison

I know what you're thinking. D-Day, why on earth are you reading a book written for fourth-graders, and why give it five stars? Well, there's a story to this little book. I'll probably put up a much longer post on my blog, but I'll summarize it here.

So far as I can remember, this is the first book I bought with my own money. I can't say for sure how old I was when I bought it. My copy has a copyright date of 1978, so I think I was probably between 7-10 years old.

I found my copy in my mom's basement this past Saturday, but to tell the truth, this little story has always been at the back of my mind. It's classified as Science Fiction, but I would also argue it has strong elements of horror to it. Very strong. In fact, anyone familiar with Lovecraft might connect it to The Shadow over Innsmouth, although Ms. Robison's story is told in a very kid-friendly way. Oh, and the creatures in this story are aliens, and quite a bit nicer.

Anyhow, I gave this five stars because I realized after reading it again that, of all the books I remember reading as a kid, this one is likely the one that sparked my imagination, led me to further tales of horror and suspense, and has kept me always wondering at the possibility of dark strangers among us.

I'm ecstatic that I still have my copy. I have two boys now, and once they're a little older, I hope at least one of them will find the same sparks of intrigue, awe, and imagination I did in this book. Hopefully it will help them build a lifetime habit of reading as well.

Thank you, Ms. Robison, for writing this book.… (mehr)