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A review by manwithanagenda
My Teacher Glows in the Dark by Bruce Coville
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
In the third book of the series we finally get to the bottom of where the aliens come from and why they were on Earth infiltrating a middle class American school system.
We also get to hear from Peter Thompson and just what he was up to in the five months between his running off with Broxholm at the end of 'My Teacher is an Alien' and when he showed up at the end of 'My Teacher Fried My Brains'. Turns out, it wasn't much. Coville uses this book to mostly introduce a series of wacky alien species and inventions, hang some lampshades, and set up the comparatively "heavy" book to follow. Very little really happens as this book is just a necessary stopgap to get the three main characters of Susan Simmons, Duncan Dougall and Peter Thompson (given the incredibly stupid name of 'Krepta, Child of the Stars') together for the Main Event.
Because, despite the great advances of the aliens, they are frightened of humanity. We are aggressive, treat our planet shamefully, and have not as a species solved world hunger, poverty, etc. Most damning of all, however, is the fact that we have the most stupendous brain capacity in the universe. We haven't properly harnessed it yet, but when we do we may inflict our 'plague' of dissension across the entire peaceful league of alien worlds. Right, of course we would have the biggest brains in the universe. It's a little much don't you think and goes against the idea of having kids think critically about how we behave as a species. Ah well.
The cover image of Hoo-lan blasting a television set is still a mystery at the end of the book, Peter has seen a vision of it but Hoo-lan never explained it. Not that it's a big mystery, there's already been more than a little "television rots your brain" talk in this series already, so I'm sure it'll be that kind of explanation.
My Teacher is an Alien
Next: 'My Teacher Flunked the Planet'
Previous: 'My Teacher Fried My Brains'
We also get to hear from Peter Thompson and just what he was up to in the five months between his running off with Broxholm at the end of 'My Teacher is an Alien' and when he showed up at the end of 'My Teacher Fried My Brains'. Turns out, it wasn't much. Coville uses this book to mostly introduce a series of wacky alien species and inventions, hang some lampshades, and set up the comparatively "heavy" book to follow. Very little really happens as this book is just a necessary stopgap to get the three main characters of Susan Simmons, Duncan Dougall and Peter Thompson (given the incredibly stupid name of 'Krepta, Child of the Stars') together for the Main Event.
Because, despite the great advances of the aliens, they are frightened of humanity. We are aggressive, treat our planet shamefully, and have not as a species solved world hunger, poverty, etc. Most damning of all, however, is the fact that we have the most stupendous brain capacity in the universe. We haven't properly harnessed it yet, but when we do we may inflict our 'plague' of dissension across the entire peaceful league of alien worlds. Right, of course we would have the biggest brains in the universe. It's a little much don't you think and goes against the idea of having kids think critically about how we behave as a species. Ah well.
The cover image of Hoo-lan blasting a television set is still a mystery at the end of the book, Peter has seen a vision of it but Hoo-lan never explained it. Not that it's a big mystery, there's already been more than a little "television rots your brain" talk in this series already, so I'm sure it'll be that kind of explanation.
My Teacher is an Alien
Next: 'My Teacher Flunked the Planet'
Previous: 'My Teacher Fried My Brains'