A Martian Comes to Stay

by Penelope Lively, Alison Bartlett (Illustrator)

The Martian's spaceship needs repairs, but when he returns with the spanner he's borrowed from Peter and his gran, he finds he's been abandoned! Luckily, Gran and Peter take him in, and introduce him to life in the country. It's all going well until they take him to the village fete. Will the local villages see through the Martian's cunning disguise—and what will happen if they do?

64 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

Penelope Lively is the author of many prize-winning novels and short-story collections for both adults and children. She has twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize: once in 1977 for her first novel, The Road to Lichfield, and again in 1984 for According to Mark. She later won the 1987 Booker Prize for her highly acclaimed novel Moon Tiger.

Her other books include Going Back; Judgement Day; Next to Nature, Art; Perfect Happiness; Passing On; City of the Mind; Cleopatra’s Sister; Heat Wave; Beyond the Blue Mountains, a collection of short stories; Oleander, Jacaranda, a memoir of her childhood days in Egypt; Spiderweb; her autobiographical work, A House Unlocked; The Photograph; Making It Up; Consequences; Family Album, which was shortlisted for the 2009 Costa Novel Award, and How It All Began.

She is a popular writer for children and has won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Award. She was appointed CBE in the 2001 New Year’s Honours List, and DBE in 2012.

Penelope Lively lives in London. She was married to Jack Lively, who died in 1998.

Reviews

[Zainy K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Verrry good i love this story/book

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm always interested in, but generally disappointed by, adult authors who turn their hand to children's writing. Here the premise is interesting enough for adults and kids alike, a martian gets stranded in the English countryside after his spaceship lands in a local field. The engineer has left his tools back at the base, and our martian sets off in search of a spanner. He finds a young boy, Peter, who is staying with his grandmother for the holidays. It is all frightfully English, and rather quaint, but I don't know that it is funny as claimed- Fast and Funny Fiction for Independent Readers. Originally published in 1977.

[Ting]

I think the all of villagers those were in vallage fete will focus him because he is the oddest.