Little Green Men at the Mercury Inn

by Greg Leitich Smith, Andrew Arnold (Illustrations)

Beach culture and UFOs collide in this lighthearted adventure story about an alien encounter at an aging Cocoa Beach motel.

Twelve-year-old Aidan lives and works at his parents' motel on the Space Coast in Florida, so he's seen a lot of weird stuff. Even his best friend, Louis, is a little bit crazy--he's obsessed with UFOs and swears he saw one two years ago. But things at the Mercury Inn are about to get a whole lot weirder. When an actual unidentified flying object suddenly appears in the sky over the motel, Aidan begins to realize that some of the residents of the Mercury Inn may be much more unusual than he thought. And Louis might not be so crazy after all. Filled with quirky characters and atmosphere, this beachy alien caper, like the aging motel where it takes place, is anything but ordinary.

Genres: Science Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Aliens, Juvenile, Adventure, Humor

224 pages, Hardcover

First published June 10, 2014

Reviews

[Join the Penguin Resistance! · Rating 5 out of 5]

UFO'S over Canaveral? Extraterrestials vacationing in Florida? Widespread government cover-up? Read this delightful yet thought-provoking story and see. For middle-grades and up.

[Josh Newhouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars... loved the book however ending very abrupt... should have been called little gray men... :)

[Pop Bop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, Twisty and Engaging UFO Adventure/Lark

This book is a total hoot, and it's smarter, funnier, better written and better plotted than a quick glance might at first suggest.

In a nutshell the plot sounds fairly predictable. Aidan lives at his family's motel on the Cape Canaveral coast. Aidan and his UFO obsessed buddy Louis witness a UFO event while working a shuttle launch party. Coverups, invasion rumors, and suspicions about the possibly extra-terrestrial origins of some of the motel guests ensue. Aidan, Louis and a high-tech maybe alien girl, Dru, investigate.

Now, this could be the basis for a perfectly fine fun adventure mystery. But, it is a lot more than that, mainly because the three young characters are so well-written and because all three are observant, insightful and funny. Aidan has a very deadpan delivery, is a bit world weary for a twelve year old, and is the most skeptical of the three. Louis is a total believer and is the high energy sparkplug who keeps the more frantic aspects of the adventure going. Dru is the mysterious x-factor who keeps the boys on their toes. All three are awarded some very funny throwaway lines, and are supported by a dry subtle narrative that pokes fun at pretty much everything, (Florida, motel guests, UFO conspiracies, media coverage, etc.), as the story bubbles along. The author lands a few digs here and there, but as is appropriate for a middle grade humor/adventure there isn't a lot of sarcasm and not much in the way of irony. This is gee whiz, knowing, knuckleheaded territory, staked out with high energy. The plot is very twisty but has a very solid resolution.

While the author isn't based in Florida this book has the feel of the Florida "style" pioneered by people like Carl Hiaasen and Dave Berry - big jokes and little nudges, and sunshine, and quirky appealing main characters, and scads of funny secondary characters who come and go, and plots that keep spinning around until all of the loose ends come together. That's what you get here.

This is a very entertaining read and a nice find.

Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

With each new book published by Greg Leitich Smith I am more impressed with his writing. This book was a great fun story. It was humorous, entertaining and a little silly, but that being said it is a book kids will love. Greg is the author of the Chronal Engine and also the two books set at the Preshtigo School in Chicago: Ninja, Piranhas, and Galileo and Tofu and T. Rex. This book set in Cocoa Beach in South Florida is a mash up of Beach culture, UFO enthusiast, and Space Flight fanatics around the Cape.

Aiden lives and works at his parent’s hotel on the Space Coast, the Mercury Inn. His best friend Louis also works at the hotel and is definitely a UFO enthusiast, who swears he saw a UFO two years ago during the accident in which he lost his leg. The Mercury Inn is known for throwing huge parties during any space launches. And Aiden and Louis have seen a lot of weird stuff working at the hotel but things have just got a whole lot weirder. An actual UFO appears during a scheduled space launch and caused life for all at the inn to get even crazier.

What young reader would not enjoy a story with aliens, UFO’s, government cover-up’s, weird scientists, exuberant media personalities, and a couple of guys just trying to figure out the lengths that friendships can go, especially if one of the new friends ends up being a little less than human. This book is a great entertaining read, humorous, quirky and full of surprises. So give it a try and see where Greg will take your imagination!

Read the review and reviews of other books by Greg Leitich Smith on my blog Book Reviews and More. Also an interview with Greg.

[Angus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A crazy caper at Cape Canaveral featuring UFOs, Aliens and an amazing array of characters at the Mercury Inn Motel. This was a rollicking good read aloud - to my 7 year old - full of interesting characters, surprise plot twists, and a mystery from outer space that three friends eventually solve. Don't want to give away too much, but it is packed with slapstick humor and shenanigans, and features delightful spot illustrations by Andrew Arnold.

[Terryann · Rating 5 out of 5]

at the cape canaveral coast, a young boy who works in his parents' motel, along with his best friend uncover an alien, a government cover up, and much more. i adore this book. a fun read with some science and some sic-fi. kids are sure to enjoy the aliens, the atmosphere and the fun pace. hilarious, highly recommended.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute story. A great introduction to alien encounters.

[John Bandoja · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read. Nice and short. The story was humorous and well-written. This was a good read and only a middle grade level.

[Valerie McEnroe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The science-fiction genre is the weak spot in my library collection, so I'm always looking for good material. This is a decent read for kids around grade 4. Unfortunately, the title does not do the book justice, so it's most likely going to be a space filler on the shelf. If kids knew it's about a boy whose parents own a beach motel by Kennedy Space Center, they would probably be intrigued. I partly base this on the fact that kids are suddenly taking an interest in Chris Grabenstein's book Home Sweet Motel. The author grew up vacationing in Cocoa Beach, Florida on the Space Coast, so he definitely has the background. He probably got the satisfaction of watching rocket launches from the beach and probably also knows the disappointment of the gazillion times NASA scrubbed launches. These are mentioned in the book.

I wish Smith had stayed more in the realistic fiction zone and maybe wrote about a couple of kids trying to sneak into NASA. Instead he writes about aliens, which has its good moments. During a scheduled launch, a UFO appears, resulting in a media frenzy. The Mercury Inn gets booked for the next 6 months. The owner's son, Aiden, finds out one of the vacationers is actually an alien, who's trying to get back to her spaceship. The interesting part is that she's got a dead alien in her refrigerator. Aiden helps her hide it with the pig roasts in the motel's freezer, but that goes bust and they move it to one of the ice machines. It's funny actually. If the book just had a better title, so I wouldn't have to work so hard to get kids to read it, I would have given it 4 stars.

[Yapha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aidan lives with his parents at the Mercury Inn, the motel they own on the Florida space coast. Because of it's proximity to Cape Canaveral, it is a great place to watch spacecraft launches. This particularly appeals to Aidan's best friend Louis, a UFO nut with a prosthetic leg due to a car accident. But this particular launch is special, when a large seemingly unidentified flying object is seen overhead after a massive power outage. Suddenly tourists, reporters, and government agents descend on the hotel to try and find the aliens. It is up to Aidan, Louis, and their new friend Dru to solve the mystery of the alien visitors before it is too late. Fast paced and full of fascinating UFO theories. Pair this with Chris Grabenstein's Home Sweet Motel for more Florida Motel fun! Highly recommended to alien enthusiasts, grades 3 & up.

[Sarah A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun gentle sci-fi adventure book for elementary kids. Working at his parents hotel on the Space coast can get pretty boring but a visit from a UFO and some aliens can really make things fun. Good language, nice flowing story.

[Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great my favourite part is when a UFO suddenly crashes from the sky.

[Joella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aidan lives in a hotel that his parents own. It is not your typical Holiday Inn. No, Aidan’s hotel is the Mercury Inn and they are located on the Space Coast in Florida. Which means that they can watch NASA shuttle launches from the hotel’s beach. And of course they play up the whole UFO type of thing as well. So those that love anything to do with space come to the Mercury Inn. In fact, even Aidan’s best friend, Louis, is totally obsessed with UFOs. Louis is sure that he saw a UFO a couple of years ago. So when things get a little strange around the time of a scheduled (and cancelled and scheduled and cancelled) shuttle launch, people start swarming to the Mercury Inn where Aidan finds himself believing in a few out-of-this-world coincidences.

This is a fun book that those who are interested in Science Fiction will enjoy. Aidan and Louis and Dur (one of the hotel guests Aidan and Louis’ age) are fun characters that kids will enjoy. Plus there are aliens. And spaceships. And a media frenzy where everyone wants to know all about anything and everything alien. There are also some fun illustrations scattered around the text. This is great seeing how those that are the right age for this story will still enjoy having an illustration or two. And even though books with aliens often have a lot of crazy alien things/culture to explain, this book explains everything in such a clear way that readers will totally go along with Aidan and Louis as they learn all sorts of extraterrestrial things. A fun book for the budding science fiction fans.

[M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable read for grades 4 though middle school, boys and girls. The story is set on the Florida coast near Cape Canaveral and combines NASA space vehicle launches, UFOs, aliens, government cover-ups, and a whole assortment of unconventional characters. Aiden, age 12, lives with his parents at their oceanfront motel and spends his summer days keeping the pool area clean and doing whatever else needs to be done in the way of maintenance and visitors' requests. His friend Louis, a UFO believer, helps out when needed. Things are going pretty normally until a UFO shows up at a NASA launch and Dru, a guest the boys' same age, has yet another perspective on what's going on. The launch is postponed and a huge assortment of strange people descend upon the motel, waiting for the UFO's return. Some of those motel guests aren't quite what they seem and the plot continues with all sorts of unexpected twists and turns.

I found the ending a bit abrupt but most young readers won't notice that. the narrative's language is clear and direct and a little more than usual white space between lines makes this book easy to read. The quirkiness of the characters and the plot will make most kids keep reading.

[Alyisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for my children's book club at the library. The kids really liked it but I wasn't super impressed. The ending felt abrupt and everything that came before it seemed quick and unexplored, too. There were some passages that I thought were really strange for a kid's book (like when Brita explains the "alien aesthetic"). I did love that one of the (water-loving) aliens was called Ishmael. I also loved that when I asked the kids in my club who the villain of the story was, one of the little 5th grade girls quietly muttered, "thegovernment." Quite right, grasshopper. Quite right.

Real rating: 2.75ish

[Gabriel Knebel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book expecting it to be half-decent (never judge a book by it's cover, XD). This is an interesting book full of science, fun, fake legs, UFOs, luau pigs, and many other things like such. It starts with one kid finding a table and chairs in the pool of his family's inn, The Mercury Inn. His friend has aliens on the brain 24/7. Later that night, the power of EVERYTHING cuts out- and I mean EVERYTHING, including battery-powered objects, and a UFO flies overhead. To find out why, read the book. I promise that you will not be disappointed.

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a boy named Aidan, a boy named Louis, and a girl named Dru. Aidan's parents own the Mercury Inn. Every rocket launch, the have a little something called a launch party. but on one particular launch party, a UFO flies over the inn! Then Aidan finds out that Dru is actually an alien! Then he finds out that Dru is trying to get a dead alien named Ishmael to her ship, but trying to avoid all the news people also! This surprising, fun, adventure story is a great read.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Roaring Brook Press for providing an advance copy at the ALA Midwinter conference.

3.5 stars. Solidly entertaining. I enjoyed the unique cast of characters, and the fresh take on the aliens and UFO concept. Lots of humor and a plot twist that I didn't expect. Would definitely recommend to readers who like contemporary humor/action and a bit of mysterious sci-fi.

[Brandy Painter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun quirky sic-fi book that has a dry sense of humor and a lot of situational comedy. It isn't really my favorite type of book, but can see how 3rd-5th graders would find a lot of enjoyment in it. I did have an issue with the only female main character and person of color character being an alien. I mean really.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a huge science fiction fan, but I'm always looking for youth and tween sci fi to read in order to be able to recommend it to young sci fi readers. This one was pretty entertaining, not too complex, and had some good twists at the end.

[Lindsey Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is for every kid who looks up at the sky and wonders, "Is anyone out there?" It's also for every kid who wonders why their neighbors seem like aliens. Yeah, this is a great book for every kid with an imagination and a sense of humor. Loved it.

[Barb G · Rating 3 out of 5]

My ten year old loved this book. I thought it was okay.

[Gail Shipley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super easy read. Kids will love the martian aliens. Has chapter pictures. Is just a fun book. great for reluctant readers.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was totally on board - even with wonky science "explanations" - until the big reveal on page 157. Then things got bonkers.

[Lisa Kizer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot twist near the end.

[Maranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4th-5th grade read as an introduction to aliens. Entertaining with a much needed twist towards the end.