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Book Review: Nose Pickers From Outer Space by Gordon Korman

Length: 137 pages, with many illustrations.

Print size: Typical "children's lit" size, but with variety -- see "other readability issues."

Other readability/instructional issues - This book takes advantage of advances in graphical technology, so there is a lot more variety in print, and graphics and illustrations are used throughout. It is, however, not done to excess so that the changes and variety make it easier to understand, especially if the meaning of those changes is discussed as they are encountered. This book is full of language twists -- the "Nose Picker From Outer Space" comes from a place called "Pan" and the residents refer to themselves as "Pants." Some of these residents are Smarty Pants, or Training Pants, or...

The sentences tend to be short, the vocabulary relatively easy, and the plot straightforward and concrete. The book is, however, a flight of complete fantasy which may make comprehension more difficult. The concepts of "being cool" as opposed to "being a dweeb" are crucial to understanding the book (and it also lends itself to some discussion of social skills in a light-hearted context)

The alien's name is Stan Mflxnyses, which will make for interesting pronunciation attempts..

Summary: Devin's school has a "national student exchange" program, and Devin's exchange student turns out to be an alien. The nature of his mission has the fate of the planet at stake; Earth could be moved from its orbit out to Pluto. You have to read to find out why our alien friend's finger is so often up his nose, and the true nature of Michael Jordan's talents.

Typical words:

Typical multisyllable/irregular words - you may want to see how many of these words your students can identify before expecting them to read independently.