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My Teacher Is an Alien #4
My Teacher Flunked the Planet
ALIEN INVASION OF EARTH!
Peter Thompson, a typical seventh-grader, finds himself touring the planet with his friends Susan Simmons and Duncan Dougal, and three aliens in disguise!
Their mission? To file the final report that will determine Earth's future in the universe.
As the clock ticks away the hours before their meeting in space, the tour becomes weirder and weirder. The three friends come face to face with a plague of poots and "Big Julie"-- the weirdest alien yet!
Meanwhile, Peter discovers a secret hidden for decades. Will his discovery save the Earth, or is it already too late to stop the aliens from destroying the planet?
Peter Thompson, a typical seventh-grader, finds himself touring the planet with his friends Susan Simmons and Duncan Dougal, and three aliens in disguise!
Their mission? To file the final report that will determine Earth's future in the universe.
As the clock ticks away the hours before their meeting in space, the tour becomes weirder and weirder. The three friends come face to face with a plague of poots and "Big Julie"-- the weirdest alien yet!
Meanwhile, Peter discovers a secret hidden for decades. Will his discovery save the Earth, or is it already too late to stop the aliens from destroying the planet?
176 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1992
48 people are currently reading
542 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
July 6, 2023
This was a decent story about a group of kids who have to convince aliens there is enough good in the people of Earth not to destroy our planet. It has some surprisingly graphic depictions of war, poverty, people starving and dying, etc, that I was shocked to find in a book for younger audiences. The book starts out very strong but then slows down quite a bit, and for me it was just an "okay" read in the end. It's the fourth book in the series and though this one can be read standalone, there were some references to events and character backstories from the previous books that made me feel like I was missing out. I don't think I liked this enough to seek out the first three books, though. C'est la vie.
February 20, 2020
First, this front cover, while cool, is misleading. While the story appeared to be a kid's version of SF pulp magazines of yesteryear, the series had grown more philosophical and sophisticated by the third and fourth books. Anyhow, this is just the cover, the story is pure magic. Coville manages to tie up all, or most, of his loose threads into pretty bows. We readers have grown to love the aliens as friends and there is a bigger picture to contemplate. What happens to our favorite sixth graders and the aliens? You must read to find out. Coville has created another gem.
March 15, 2022
I feel I should have a quote from the book at the top of this, given everything it says, but somehow I don't have one. Still, it is that kind of book.
We've reached the end of the Bruce Coville Teacher Alien saga. We've been on a fun journey so far, going from just a solid little story to this debate on what to do with humanity. They've been pretty solid and now we get the grand finale. A lot of the praise for the series mainly comes from this one, with how it really tackles the themes full force.
It goes on from where we left off, as Peter, still narrator, Duncan, Susan and the teacher aliens, must convince the galactic council not to blow up Earth. They go on a mission around Earth to study how things are, and what they find is not great. Things escalate from there and eventually secrets are reveled and they must decide if humans are even worth saving.
Oh man this book is a lot. I feel like I've ascended to a higher plane after reading it. As you can see from the rating, i really like it It is my favorite of these for a few reasons, the main being how it caps it all off well. It captures everything that worked about the others. We get plenty of sci-fi fun with the aliens, the tech and all that. We get neat sci-fi ideas, and it becomes like the previous one with how a fair is loose on story as they mostly go around Earth and think about stuff.
It has a good combo of stakes and bigger things and a more simple vibe. It truly does combine everything about the series. True, the first had more of those amusing weird adult jokes and such, and at first I was thinking of how it didn't have big characters moments. But as it goes on along, it gets into those.
Susan still gets a bit less shafted, getting to do more, mostly near the end. It still feels like she has the least going on, the others have these troubles and arcs, but she's just sorta there in comparison. Duncan deals with the whole brain thing he dealt with, and he gets a nice cap. I will say that while I largely really like the ending, it could have had more closure for the other characters, Peter gets it but the others, less so. Their caps came earlier on, sorta.
Peter gets the main character stuff. Aside from thinking about humanity, we finally close out the stuff with his dad and it's great. There's a scene with them where they finally get everything out there. And well, I admit I did get teary eyed that. There was already a moment earlier that got me a bit so I was vulnerable enough to be hit hard here. Who left this bowl of onions here?
As for the whole humanity theme, I said this series was going full Weirdo Waldo (as in, the Shivers book Weirdo Waldo's Wax Museum) and boy does it ever. This hits even harder since it doesn't go for scares when doing that. They get to see first hand the horrors that go on, and well...yeah, one bit in that is the bit that got to me that I mentioned. The bit is a pretty dark one too. With what they touch on, I was ready to side with the people that wanted to push the button to blow us up. It's been 30 years as of this year, and what they go over has only gotten worse.
Of course, it does touch on the good side too, and there is an optimistic ending. We get interesting revelations, regarding where we left off with Hoo-Lan and all that. The "trial" is shorter than I expected, I figured it would be a court drama the whole time lol. The resolution works really well, it touches on deeper stuff with the mind. It's rather big brained, even as an adult it was out there, I can only imagine how a kid feels reading this.
Now I am slightly mixed on where it goes. The resolution makes for a nice ending, and the epilogue is very well done. But it uses a few tropes I know have some problems. One is just a typical one that tends to make me roll my eyes but it wasn't a big deal. The other is something you sometimes see in Sci-Fi, done on a bigger scale. The way they do it works well, but I can see some taking issue with it. It's hard to be vague without giving it away, but it's kind of offers an explanation for why humanity is like this, and it's something.
The way it's done makes it work, and makes sense given where this seemed to be going. It works in the context of this story at least. But yeah, with all that, My Teacher Flunked the Planet is great. The series as a whole was a solid ride, offering some fun Sci-Fi stuff that was well developed, along with solid and decently rounded characters, and along the way, some really interesting and harrowing commentary.
This book sums all that up and delivers on all fronts. There are specific aspects others did a bit better but this ended up being my favorite, if only for how it sums up everything. Plus you get emotional highs/lows. The ending got me good, as I said, I feel like my brain expanded after reading it lol.
Overall, the Teacher Alien saga comes recommended. As far as middle grade lit goes, it's really solid, especially given the era. It wasn't perfect but as my first exposure to Bruce, (in a bigger way, I read that one collection but he just wrote one story there) he proved to be pretty good, offering some solid ideas. If you want some especially good 90's middle grade stuff, this series is well worth the read, especially this one.
I'm glad to have it done so I can move on, but I am sad to see it go. I kinda wish we got to see these characters again in some way, aside from a very 90's PC game. I'm surprised this never got picked up for some kind of series/movie, some of his other works have gotten that here and that. If done right, that could be something special.
We will be returning to Bruce, now I wanna just read everything about by him. I can say I will be touching on him again this summer as he has a series that is camp based, so look forward to that. Until then, I want to explore new horizons with the casual reads, not sure which is next, but yeah expect some fun stuff going forward.
Until that, that's all for now.
(BTW, there's something that reminds me of an event from last year and...that was interesting to read lol)
We've reached the end of the Bruce Coville Teacher Alien saga. We've been on a fun journey so far, going from just a solid little story to this debate on what to do with humanity. They've been pretty solid and now we get the grand finale. A lot of the praise for the series mainly comes from this one, with how it really tackles the themes full force.
It goes on from where we left off, as Peter, still narrator, Duncan, Susan and the teacher aliens, must convince the galactic council not to blow up Earth. They go on a mission around Earth to study how things are, and what they find is not great. Things escalate from there and eventually secrets are reveled and they must decide if humans are even worth saving.
Oh man this book is a lot. I feel like I've ascended to a higher plane after reading it. As you can see from the rating, i really like it It is my favorite of these for a few reasons, the main being how it caps it all off well. It captures everything that worked about the others. We get plenty of sci-fi fun with the aliens, the tech and all that. We get neat sci-fi ideas, and it becomes like the previous one with how a fair is loose on story as they mostly go around Earth and think about stuff.
It has a good combo of stakes and bigger things and a more simple vibe. It truly does combine everything about the series. True, the first had more of those amusing weird adult jokes and such, and at first I was thinking of how it didn't have big characters moments. But as it goes on along, it gets into those.
Susan still gets a bit less shafted, getting to do more, mostly near the end. It still feels like she has the least going on, the others have these troubles and arcs, but she's just sorta there in comparison. Duncan deals with the whole brain thing he dealt with, and he gets a nice cap. I will say that while I largely really like the ending, it could have had more closure for the other characters, Peter gets it but the others, less so. Their caps came earlier on, sorta.
Peter gets the main character stuff. Aside from thinking about humanity, we finally close out the stuff with his dad and it's great. There's a scene with them where they finally get everything out there. And well, I admit I did get teary eyed that. There was already a moment earlier that got me a bit so I was vulnerable enough to be hit hard here. Who left this bowl of onions here?
As for the whole humanity theme, I said this series was going full Weirdo Waldo (as in, the Shivers book Weirdo Waldo's Wax Museum) and boy does it ever. This hits even harder since it doesn't go for scares when doing that. They get to see first hand the horrors that go on, and well...yeah, one bit in that is the bit that got to me that I mentioned. The bit is a pretty dark one too. With what they touch on, I was ready to side with the people that wanted to push the button to blow us up. It's been 30 years as of this year, and what they go over has only gotten worse.
Of course, it does touch on the good side too, and there is an optimistic ending. We get interesting revelations, regarding where we left off with Hoo-Lan and all that. The "trial" is shorter than I expected, I figured it would be a court drama the whole time lol. The resolution works really well, it touches on deeper stuff with the mind. It's rather big brained, even as an adult it was out there, I can only imagine how a kid feels reading this.
Now I am slightly mixed on where it goes. The resolution makes for a nice ending, and the epilogue is very well done. But it uses a few tropes I know have some problems. One is just a typical one that tends to make me roll my eyes but it wasn't a big deal. The other is something you sometimes see in Sci-Fi, done on a bigger scale. The way they do it works well, but I can see some taking issue with it. It's hard to be vague without giving it away, but it's kind of offers an explanation for why humanity is like this, and it's something.
The way it's done makes it work, and makes sense given where this seemed to be going. It works in the context of this story at least. But yeah, with all that, My Teacher Flunked the Planet is great. The series as a whole was a solid ride, offering some fun Sci-Fi stuff that was well developed, along with solid and decently rounded characters, and along the way, some really interesting and harrowing commentary.
This book sums all that up and delivers on all fronts. There are specific aspects others did a bit better but this ended up being my favorite, if only for how it sums up everything. Plus you get emotional highs/lows. The ending got me good, as I said, I feel like my brain expanded after reading it lol.
Overall, the Teacher Alien saga comes recommended. As far as middle grade lit goes, it's really solid, especially given the era. It wasn't perfect but as my first exposure to Bruce, (in a bigger way, I read that one collection but he just wrote one story there) he proved to be pretty good, offering some solid ideas. If you want some especially good 90's middle grade stuff, this series is well worth the read, especially this one.
I'm glad to have it done so I can move on, but I am sad to see it go. I kinda wish we got to see these characters again in some way, aside from a very 90's PC game. I'm surprised this never got picked up for some kind of series/movie, some of his other works have gotten that here and that. If done right, that could be something special.
We will be returning to Bruce, now I wanna just read everything about by him. I can say I will be touching on him again this summer as he has a series that is camp based, so look forward to that. Until then, I want to explore new horizons with the casual reads, not sure which is next, but yeah expect some fun stuff going forward.
Until that, that's all for now.
(BTW, there's something that reminds me of an event from last year and...that was interesting to read lol)
September 11, 2017
The finale of the My Teacher series does not fail to deliver.
Peter is now reunited with Susan and Duncan and together the 3 of them (with 2 of their alien teachers) are tasked with convincing the Interplanetary Council that Earth is worth saving.
The kids soon find it is hard to make such a case. The world is divided. War. Famine. Hatred. Destruction of the planet. This book was written 25 years ago and it is sad that most of what is seen as failures of the human race still exist.
The kids and the teachers are working against the clock to save their planet. But is it worth saving?
Along the way, Peter learns more about Earth, himself, and his father, leading to him making a decision he never thought he would have to make.
Overall, I really enjoyed this series. Coville presents a fun, entertaining set of 4 books that on the surface are for kids who maybe just wonder if that adult in their life is from another planet (what kid doesn't think adults seem as if they are from another world). But deep down their is a message. We can change. we need to change. But will we? Maybe we need to make that decision before someone or something else makes it for us.
Peter is now reunited with Susan and Duncan and together the 3 of them (with 2 of their alien teachers) are tasked with convincing the Interplanetary Council that Earth is worth saving.
The kids soon find it is hard to make such a case. The world is divided. War. Famine. Hatred. Destruction of the planet. This book was written 25 years ago and it is sad that most of what is seen as failures of the human race still exist.
The kids and the teachers are working against the clock to save their planet. But is it worth saving?
Along the way, Peter learns more about Earth, himself, and his father, leading to him making a decision he never thought he would have to make.
Overall, I really enjoyed this series. Coville presents a fun, entertaining set of 4 books that on the surface are for kids who maybe just wonder if that adult in their life is from another planet (what kid doesn't think adults seem as if they are from another world). But deep down their is a message. We can change. we need to change. But will we? Maybe we need to make that decision before someone or something else makes it for us.
February 1, 2024
Seventh-grader Peter Thompson and his friends, Susan Simpson and Duncan Dougal, have had some pretty startling experiences over the past year. For instance, several of their teachers have turned out to be aliens, on Earth to investigate our species and our culture. Along the way, they've experienced some pretty weird effects of the aliens' technology first-hand. Now they've been kidnapped by the aliens, and learned where all this has been headed.
The alien are trying to decide whether it's safe to let humans continue to advance our technology and emerge into the galaxy, or whether it would be the safer and wiser choice, given how violent we are even towards each other, to destroy us now before we can do any damage outside our own system. The consensus is tilting pretty heavily toward "wipe them out now."
Peter, Susan, and Duncan, plus three aliens in disguise who have been their teachers, are assigned the task of doing a last in-depth survey of Earth and, if possible, making the case to the galactic council that Earth should be spared. As they travel to some of Earth's worst hotspots of war, poverty, famine, and disease, they see horrors that it's several times observed really shouldn't be seen by children.
One of their discoveries is that, for all their non-interference stance, at least one alien has meddled in Earth's development in a way that had major consequences.
But they are children old enough to understand the issues involved, while still young enough, unlike adults to be open to seeing that things can be different. And at each of these terrible sites, they also see people trying to make things better.
They also each individually have experiences that shake up their understanding not only of their world, but of their own understanding of their individual lives.
The question is, can they both believe in their own world's capacity to grow, and make a convincing case to the galactic council that it should be allowed to?
It's an exciting, fun, enlightening story, well-performed by the Full Cast Audio narrators.
The alien are trying to decide whether it's safe to let humans continue to advance our technology and emerge into the galaxy, or whether it would be the safer and wiser choice, given how violent we are even towards each other, to destroy us now before we can do any damage outside our own system. The consensus is tilting pretty heavily toward "wipe them out now."
Peter, Susan, and Duncan, plus three aliens in disguise who have been their teachers, are assigned the task of doing a last in-depth survey of Earth and, if possible, making the case to the galactic council that Earth should be spared. As they travel to some of Earth's worst hotspots of war, poverty, famine, and disease, they see horrors that it's several times observed really shouldn't be seen by children.
One of their discoveries is that, for all their non-interference stance, at least one alien has meddled in Earth's development in a way that had major consequences.
But they are children old enough to understand the issues involved, while still young enough, unlike adults to be open to seeing that things can be different. And at each of these terrible sites, they also see people trying to make things better.
They also each individually have experiences that shake up their understanding not only of their world, but of their own understanding of their individual lives.
The question is, can they both believe in their own world's capacity to grow, and make a convincing case to the galactic council that it should be allowed to?
It's an exciting, fun, enlightening story, well-performed by the Full Cast Audio narrators.
November 4, 2024
Ah, if only. My main beef with this series is that it cuts way too close to the heart. We need an alien intervention. Things are getting worse and worse---but it has only been 32 years since the final book in the series was published, so perhaps it might still happen. In the overall scheme of things, that's really not that much time. In spite of the disappointing trajectory of human devolution, a charming fairy tale...
Yes, this is a repeat of my review of the previous story in the series, and, overall, my feeling for the collection. I kind of think it should be required reading for all ages and cultures, not that I believe it would have any actual impact. Whether we're one organism or not, greed, lust for power and just more, more, more, together with raving xenophobia, rule our life/lives. We definitely don't look out for one another beyond what we perceive as "our own kind"; vive la difference is not our motto. More like the seagulls in Finding Nemo: "Mine! Mine! Mine!"
Yes, this is a repeat of my review of the previous story in the series, and, overall, my feeling for the collection. I kind of think it should be required reading for all ages and cultures, not that I believe it would have any actual impact. Whether we're one organism or not, greed, lust for power and just more, more, more, together with raving xenophobia, rule our life/lives. We definitely don't look out for one another beyond what we perceive as "our own kind"; vive la difference is not our motto. More like the seagulls in Finding Nemo: "Mine! Mine! Mine!"
June 16, 2025
Not my favorite book of the series, but a fairly satisfying conclusion to this saga.
October 22, 2018
What is the great evil of the 20th century? According to this book it is television, making this truly a pre-Internet book.
That said, this one can be pretty stark in its portrayal of the world, including war and famine. I like that. It also has some very emotional parts as well and the last two chapters were not as much a cop out as I expected. That said, Susan is pretty useless here, to the point where I forgot she was around at one point. What a difference from her portrayal in book one and even two.
From a historical point of view, the book is a wonderful example of 1990s liberalism, with its belief in humanity as one united whole divided by a lack of empathy and dialogue. That dream now seems dead, at least for now, which makes this an even sadder book. It also could use a sequel, for at heart its idea is that everyone is redeemable. There should have been a fifth book where Jeffery Dahmer shows up to test the hypothesis.
That said, this one can be pretty stark in its portrayal of the world, including war and famine. I like that. It also has some very emotional parts as well and the last two chapters were not as much a cop out as I expected. That said, Susan is pretty useless here, to the point where I forgot she was around at one point. What a difference from her portrayal in book one and even two.
From a historical point of view, the book is a wonderful example of 1990s liberalism, with its belief in humanity as one united whole divided by a lack of empathy and dialogue. That dream now seems dead, at least for now, which makes this an even sadder book. It also could use a sequel, for at heart its idea is that everyone is redeemable. There should have been a fifth book where Jeffery Dahmer shows up to test the hypothesis.
August 4, 2025
This is the culmination of reading a book series that I first stumbled upon as a kid in the 1990s and finally got around to reading in 2025.
I dug My Teacher Is an Alien, although it was a weird (slightly dated) book. My Teacher Fried My Brains was a fun continuation and I really enjoyed how both books managed to keep the alien threat spooky and fun. It really felt like a threat! Book three, My Teacher Glows in the Dark labored the theme slightly, and this one sort of followed suit. It was a good story, but I quickly realized that I don't really care for Peter as a narrator.
Also, I didn't really like Hoo-Lan. Which made it difficult, as he was definitely supposed to be really likeable. I found him enigmatic and frustrating. And I thought that this second book got a little too preachy. Did I enjoy it? Sure. But, would I read it again? Probably not.
All in all, though, I'm glad I finally read the series. I don't think I would have liked these as a kid, so I'm glad that I took time for them now, because they were a lot of fun, despite their shortcomings (including the weird ending-- )
Final ratings:
Book: ★★★☆☆
Series: ★★★☆☆
I dug My Teacher Is an Alien, although it was a weird (slightly dated) book. My Teacher Fried My Brains was a fun continuation and I really enjoyed how both books managed to keep the alien threat spooky and fun. It really felt like a threat! Book three, My Teacher Glows in the Dark labored the theme slightly, and this one sort of followed suit. It was a good story, but I quickly realized that I don't really care for Peter as a narrator.
Also, I didn't really like Hoo-Lan. Which made it difficult, as he was definitely supposed to be really likeable. I found him enigmatic and frustrating. And I thought that this second book got a little too preachy. Did I enjoy it? Sure. But, would I read it again? Probably not.
All in all, though, I'm glad I finally read the series. I don't think I would have liked these as a kid, so I'm glad that I took time for them now, because they were a lot of fun, despite their shortcomings (including the weird ending-- )
Final ratings:
Book: ★★★☆☆
Series: ★★★☆☆
July 10, 2025
SO GOOD. This book is so good. I remembered this as being the best one of the series from when read it 30+ years ago, but, man, it hits even harder reading it as an adult. This is an absolutely scathing critique of humanity by Coville--and in the 30+ years since he wrote it, little has changed. The story still holds up perfectly. I cried (wept, really) multiple times while reading it (I had to get myself together enough to go get my kids from camp after reading Peter & Co.'s tour of the horrors of Earth--that image of the woman breastfeeding the dead baby is one of the most horrific things I've read in a while, and that was an image that stuck with me from reading the book as a child--I just didn't remember what book it was from, so it was a shock to find it here.)
And yet, ultimately, the story is a hopeful one. I just hope that the aliens' (and Coville's) hope in humanity is justified.
As a side note, as a teacher myself, I really appreciated the value Coville gives to teachers and to education throughout the book. Thanks, Bruce! Love, a teacher who may be an alien herself. =)
And yet, ultimately, the story is a hopeful one. I just hope that the aliens' (and Coville's) hope in humanity is justified.
As a side note, as a teacher myself, I really appreciated the value Coville gives to teachers and to education throughout the book. Thanks, Bruce! Love, a teacher who may be an alien herself. =)
October 4, 2023
I occasionally felt out of my depth in this book - both technologically and emotionally. It was as though the author and characters had levels of understanding that I simply didn't pick up on. But on the whole I enjoyed the book and its conclusion of the issues brought up in the earlier books in the series. The three main characters remained interesting and sympathetic, but like other reviewers I felt that Susan became a background character and we lost the focus on her which had been so enjoyable in the first book. The moral issues come front and center in this book and are just a little out of proportion to the other elements - narrative, character development, sci-fi pyrotechnics. I wonder how disappointed Coville is that society has deteriorated despite his attempts to motivate his young readers to seek a better life. Was he naive? Are the books naive? I expect he will say that he thought it worthwhile to try to arouse some moral outrage in his young readers. And maybe he did have a real influence. I hope so. At any rate, a good read.
January 8, 2026
Aliens absolutely can't imagine war and haven't committed violence in millennia... and that's why they want to genocide humanity, for its violent tendencies. I weep into my evolution textbook at the stupidity of this premise.
Neoliberal author wants children to know we could solve world hunger... if only we cared more.
Children should see a desperate man crawl through a war zone trying to save a child, and then both get graphically blown up by a bomb, because neoliberal author thinks his two sentences of context are enough for them to understand it.
I had fond memories of this series. Coming back, I realize it's the kind of well meaning, naive trash that turned my friends into doomscrollers and anxious hug-every-cat moralists.
The issues covered in the book are real, and good, and worth wrestling with. But nobody needs this juvenile strident pearl clutching as their first experience of those issues.
One star, absolutely can't stand it, we put the book down.
Neoliberal author wants children to know we could solve world hunger... if only we cared more.
Children should see a desperate man crawl through a war zone trying to save a child, and then both get graphically blown up by a bomb, because neoliberal author thinks his two sentences of context are enough for them to understand it.
I had fond memories of this series. Coming back, I realize it's the kind of well meaning, naive trash that turned my friends into doomscrollers and anxious hug-every-cat moralists.
The issues covered in the book are real, and good, and worth wrestling with. But nobody needs this juvenile strident pearl clutching as their first experience of those issues.
One star, absolutely can't stand it, we put the book down.
July 17, 2020
Wow. I had totally forgotten about this book. I read it around the age of 8 or 9 I think, and until seeing it mentioned today in a book forum, I had totally forgotten about this book that had affected me so deeply at that young age. I can still vividly remember the entire story (I hadn't read any of the previous parts) the poots, the visit to Africa, the social unrest, the visit to the youth home and the ending.. it's all still so vivid in my mind even after almost 20 years. It was an emotional and mind opening ride.
I've just downloaded all 4 parts and they're next on my reading list.
I've just downloaded all 4 parts and they're next on my reading list.
July 29, 2021
Wow. I had totally forgotten about this book. I read it around the age of 8 or 9 I think, and until seeing it mentioned today in a book forum, I had totally forgotten about this book that had affected me so deeply at that young age. I can still vividly remember the entire story (I hadn't read any of the previous parts) the poots, the visit to Africa, the social unrest, the visit to the youth home and the ending.. it's all still so vivid in my mind even after almost 20 years. It was an emotional and mind opening ride.
I've just downloaded all 4 parts and they're next on my reading list.
I've just downloaded all 4 parts and they're next on my reading list.
June 4, 2024
Mind you, Bruce Coville is still an excellent writer in this book. My problems with this book are personal and relatively minor, so it still gets a high rating. The three main characters finally reunite and this was the “My Teacher is an Alien” book that made me cry the most.
The title is correct, the teacher really does flunk the planet. Earth is on trial, a complete cliche, and we are certainly guilty. All the characters travel around the planet and see noble uncharacterized primitive folks and terrible scenes of waste and cruelty. This book is distinctly misanthropic, even taking the twist into account. This book is also really preachy.
The title is correct, the teacher really does flunk the planet. Earth is on trial, a complete cliche, and we are certainly guilty. All the characters travel around the planet and see noble uncharacterized primitive folks and terrible scenes of waste and cruelty. This book is distinctly misanthropic, even taking the twist into account. This book is also really preachy.
November 27, 2017
My Teacher Flunked the Planet by Bruce Coville
Most hopeful book I’ve read in a long time. I recommend reading the series in order, and having all four on hand because one won’t want to stop.
I have often said that children, and my high school students, give me hope for our future. They do indeed. I’m not going to give any more details . . . too good to spoil! Don’t let the JF designation stop you, read it alone if you have no youngsters to read it with.
Most hopeful book I’ve read in a long time. I recommend reading the series in order, and having all four on hand because one won’t want to stop.
I have often said that children, and my high school students, give me hope for our future. They do indeed. I’m not going to give any more details . . . too good to spoil! Don’t let the JF designation stop you, read it alone if you have no youngsters to read it with.
July 9, 2023
This is a great book to introduce to kids the fact that there are horrible things people do to themselves and each other...
The reactions that the teachers have, their heartbreaks and their hopes for the human race, those are some of Mr. Covilles best words on a page.
I loved this book as a kid, and rereading it now, to read aloud to my 12 to 6yr old kids at home, I've fallen in love with it again.
The reactions that the teachers have, their heartbreaks and their hopes for the human race, those are some of Mr. Covilles best words on a page.
I loved this book as a kid, and rereading it now, to read aloud to my 12 to 6yr old kids at home, I've fallen in love with it again.
May 25, 2017
I thought Coville's anaysis of Earth was poignant. I don't subscribe to his philosophy at the end, however, of humans being one mind. I believe we are one in Christ, but not one subconcious. I'm giving this five stars because of the emotions he evoked with his synopsis of Earth and his desire within the book to offer a solution. My kids enjoyed this series as well.
May 15, 2018
This one stayed with me the least. It was difficult to read to the boys because there's a lot of hard stuff in it (of course, one of the messages of the book is that kids shouldn't be shielded from it, but my kids are significantly younger than the target age of the book). Not a super-satisfying conclusion to the series, but certainly not bad. Worth reading if you've read the others.
April 1, 2018
This book is called "My teacher flunked the planet" by Bruce Coville. I liked this book because it involved aliens and was something different than a normal book that I would pick. I think this book was interesting, but not my favorite.
February 28, 2019
The kids and I just finished this series, and I can't believe it is out of print. It was really, really good, both kids enjoyed it, and would have been worthwhile for no other reason than introducing us to Poot and E. Pootibus Unum.
March 25, 2019
Then the alien said: OK, you got us. We gave you the television to make you stupid. But we have a new thing now for you, it is called the Internet. You will get so smart... all the information is readily accessible to you. No trick this time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 30, 2021
It's a little bit preachy but I don't think that's a bad thing for a young reader's book. :) Overall, this was a fun sci-fi series for children 10-12 or thereabouts that will spark their imaginations and, like all good sci-fi, get them thinking about real world issues. Highly recommended.
August 21, 2023
This is a decent stand alone Middle Grade book but a wonderfully satisfying conclusion to the My Teacher is an Alien quartet of books. Highly recommend reading all four with your kiddos, they will love them.
August 29, 2023
This is what the whole series has been building to - a harsh critique of humanity, a vision of a better future, and some fascinating high-concept science fiction mindbenders. This is the culmination of a series that started off very simple, but kept ramping up...and pulled it off beautifully.
January 8, 2018
The end of this series is epic and, like, totally mind blowing for me as a kid. Probably even still today if I re-read.
January 22, 2018
Thought provoking book which dealt with many issues facing our world. Great way to end the series and support given to teachers.
May 10, 2019
Another fun book and a good end to the series. Some of the content was a little realistic and graphic for younger kids. I would not read this one to a younger child.
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December 14, 2019Apparently TV is the reason people go to war.
April 22, 2020
Gonna be honest here, I did not see the ending conclusion they made about humans coming. An interesting end to a kid's SF series.
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