Amos and the Alien

Culpepper Adventures #19

by Gary Paulsen

In helping an extraterrestrial get back to his planet, Amos hides him under his bed while he and Dunc think of what to do, until Amos starts displaying new powers on the football field, and Dunc thinks the mysterious alien is behind it. Original.

64 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1994

About the author

Gary James Paulsen was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction, best known for coming-of-age stories about the wilderness. He was the author of more than 200 books and wrote more than 200 magazine articles and short stories, and several plays, all primarily for teenagers. He won the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1997 for his lifetime contribution in writing for teens.

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Monsters and other scary creatures have crossed Dunc Culpepper and Amos Binder's path before, so why not an extraterrestrial? The school's Sadie Hawkins Dance is coming up and Amos is desperate for Melissa Hansen to ask him to be her date. Her boyfriend, Biff Fastrack, quarterbacks the football team, so why can't Amos sign up and impress her on the gridiron too? It doesn't work out how he fantasized, but Dunc distracts Amos by having him help investigate a meteorite he saw fall from the sky. Dunc suggests if they make a major scientific find Melissa will be impressed, and that's all the persuading Amos needs.

What Dunc watched tumble from the sky wasn't a meteorite, but an alien spacecraft. Dunc and Amos meet an eight-foot-tall alien who uses technology to communicate with Amos in human language. Girrk is his name, and he wants to return to his home planet, Turko. His ship requires repair and an electricity source, but that's easy enough. There's a bigger problem.

Girrk has grown fond of Amos and is reluctant to say goodbye. The alien turns invisible at will and follows him around town, helping Amos post superhuman scores at the video game arcade and dominate superior athletes at football practice. Coach Sanders inserts Amos as the new quarterback; once he runs roughshod over the Barton Bruisers in their next game, Amos will finally capture Melissa's heart. Everything is going swimmingly...until Girrk gets homesick and decides he must go back to Turko. Amos will get killed on the football field without his E.T. friend, but maybe Girrk isn't planning to leave him for dead.

The majority of books in the Culpepper Adventures are too ludicrous to be enjoyed even as comedy. Amos and the Alien reins that in, recognizing that a story with a wacky premise has to be more grounded than ever in most respects. There's even a dash of sentimentality at the end, just right for the series. I can’t quite rate Amos and the Alien two and a half stars, but this book shows what potential the series has when it's not overplaying its hand as class clown. This is the best entry so far.

[Noelle Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

“She said, and I quote, ‘What’s-his-name sure showed ‘em today.’”
“‘What’s-his-name’?”
Amos grinned. “Isn’t that cute? She gave me a pet name.”

Title: Amos and the Alien
Author: Gary Paulsen

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a chapter book in the fantasy genre.

Dunc and Amos get roped in into helping an alien get back to its home. But not before this alien interferes and helps the boys with some of their problems.

This was a cute little chapter book by Gary Paulson. There’s so many more left in this series to be read. Slowly, but surely making my way through his backlist.

[Dezaray]

I did not like the book that much