Invasion from the Planet of the Cows

MAXimum Boy #4

by Dan Greenburg

Eleven-year-old Max Silver, a.k.a. Maximum Boy, and his older sister Tiffany, who has recently gained super powers she almost knows how to use, must save the world from cows from space who have returned to Earth to check up on their colonies.

96 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

DAN GREENBURG BIO

BOOKS:
Dan's 73 books have been published in 24 countries.
His adult best-sellers include EXES, LOVE KILLS, HOW TO BE A JEWISH MOTHER, HOW TO MAKE YOURSELF MISERABLE, and HOW TO AVOID LOVE AND MARRIAGE. How to be a Jewish Mother sold several million copies. It and How to Make Yourself Miserable were in print for 30 years and were on Publishers Weekly’s list of all-time bestsellers.
Amazon will publish Dan’s third psychological thriller, FEAR ITSELF, in January 2014. They’ll also republish his first two thrillers, EXES and LOVE KILLS.
He’s written four series of children's books: THE ZACK FILES, SECRETS OF DRIPPING FANG, WEIRD PLANET, and MAXIMUM BOY. The Zack Files sold more than 2 million copies, was translated into 20 languages, and generated an Emmy-winning 52-episode TV series that ran on Showtime and Fox Family.

ADVENTURES:
Dan has written extensively about his adventures:
Riding with NYPD homicide detectives for two years to research thrillers FEAR ITSELF, EXES, and LOVE KILLS.
Interviewing murderers alone in their maximum security prison cells for FEAR ITSELF.
Attending autopsies in the NYC morgue for EXES.
Learning how to discipline tigers and lions on a Texas tiger ranch.
Swimming with 80,000 lb. humpback whales in the deep ocean.
Flying upside down with a stunt pilot in an open-cockpit biplane.
Participating in dangerous voodoo rites in Haiti.
Riding with NYC firemen for four months and following them into burning buildings.
Searching for the Loch Ness Monster.
Assisting exorcists in a Connecticut house attacked by poltergeists.
Acting a major character role in a Western movie filmed in Spain.
Doing stand-up comedy at the New York Improv, and on TV talk shows.
Getting screamed at by Orson Welles on the set of Catch-22 in Mexico.

MAGAZINES:
Dan’s articles have appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, New York Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, Time, Life, Newsweek, Ms., Playboy, and have been reprinted in 44 humor anthologies in the U.S. and England.

MOVIES AND TV:
Dan has had six of his feature films produced, two of which are on Variety’s list of top grossing films.

THEATER:
Along with Jules Feiffer, John Lennon and Samuel Beckett, Dan was a contributor to Oh! Calcutta!, which ran on Broadway for 21 years. He was also a contributor to Free to be You and Me, which ran off and on Broadway for years.

MISC.:
Dan has appeared on The Today Show, The Tonight Show, Larry King Live, and Late Night with David Letterman. He grew up in Chicago, got his BFA from the University of Illinois, and his MFA from UCLA. He lives in Westchester, NY and British Columbia with his author wife Judith Greenburg and many cats.

dan@dangreenburg.com

Reviews

[Shankar B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like when Maximum Boy meets Bossy.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barn-shaped UFO’s have landed on planet Earth and who does the President call? Eleven year-old Max Silver. Registered as a member of the league of Superheroes after he accidentally handled some rocks at the Air and Space Museum, Max now has the ability to fly, lift buses over his head, and has laser eyes.

In Invasion From The Planet Of The Cows, the fourth Maximum Boy adventure, alien cows, led by General Bossy, are back on Earth to check the progress of a colony of cows that had been left several thousand Earth years ago. They are curious what important jobs cow have in the government and whether they are well paid for their farm labor.

But Max has larger problems than extra-terrestrial bovine’s when his big sister, Tiffany, who is jealous of the attention Max receives for his super powers breaks into the rock collection at the museum and acquires a few of her own.

This brother/sister duo use wit and team work to save the planet in 90 pages or less. This is a perfect read for third graders and emerging readers, who are attempting to bridge that gap from beginning chapter books to literature novels.

This story has all the ingredients any elementary boy could dream up and at times feels as though it is written by one. Not because it lacks impeccable sentence structure or a weak story arc, but only because it doesn’t give young readers much credit for wanting a more complex plot.

That being said, it has found a niche of boys in my library who are great fans.