See You Later, Space Invader! Your Alien Returns by Tammi Sauer

WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT, SOMETHING SPECIAL WILL GET YOUR ATTENTION.

YOUR ALIEN WILL BE BACK.

HE'LL INVITE YOU FOR A PLAYDATE.

Not everyone has a friend from outer space, but you have welcomed your extraterrestrial friend before and even taken him to school for the day. Somehow he managed to blend right in, even though your teacher did keep trying to adjust her glasses.

And now.... HE'S BACK! He motions you toward his spaceship, sitting on the lawn with its motor running. Should you go along?

Well, who wouldn't? Mom is distracted when you ask for permission, so you promise to be back for dinner. And then, with a GLEEP, your alien takes the controls and you rise into outer space.

YOU'LL HAVE THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE!

After a quick introduction to your alien's family,  he'll offer you a snack.  Politely, you'll try it all... except for a few things....

YOU'LL POLITELY DECLINE ANYTHING THAT STARES BACK AT YOU.

Then it's time to take off for some alien fun. There's a stellar fort to build, and then your alien takes you around the neighborhood to meet his friends. They don't look too much like the gang at home.

SEEING ALL OF THEM WILL MAKE YOU FEEL... ALIENATED!

It's hard to feel at home when you are actually in another solar system. The aliens invite you to play their favorite game, but your skills aren't quite up to scoring. You don't know exactly what you did, but it seems that you ruined the whole game. But your alien seems to remember his day on your planet and gives your hand an empathetic squeeze.

YOU KNOW YOU HAVE THE BEST FRIEND IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE!

There's no place like home, as Dorothy observed from Oz, and in Tammi Sauer's sequel to her noted 2016 book, Your Alien, (see my 2016 review here), the homing instinct kicks in, and in a nanosecond his very own E.T. whizzes him home just in time for dinner. It's not goodbye, but see you later, in Sauer's follow-up science fictional, trans-spacial friendship tale, Your Alien Returns. (Atheneum Press, 2016). Artist Gora Fujita again provides the detailed illustrations of interspace fun and games, while Sauer's text, with its light theme of accepting and appreciating differences leaves a warm and fuzzy message that continues the mood of the first book. Pair these two for an interstellar treatise on the value of friendship wherever you find it. Kirkus Reviews says that this sweet story allows "readers to tag along with the pals into the next phase of the ultimate in long-distance friendships."

Whose? Your Alien by Tammi Sauer

YOU WILL LOOK OUT OF YOUR WINDOW WHEN SOMETHING WONDERFUL COMES YOUR WAY!

A boy's glance out his window reveals a streaking UFO coming to rest right outside. Luckily, what emerges is not a ravenous reptilian raptor of an alien, but a cute little critter that most kids would find cuddly.

The two--boy and space visitor--strike up a warm friendship, and of course the kid opens the customary "can I keep him" negotiation with his parents.

YOU'LL HAVE TO BREAK THE NEWS TO YOUR PARENTS!

Fortunately, the boy's folks seem not quite to guess what they're really seeing, so the alien trails the kid to school. The kids in the class think he's totally awesome, and the teacher is not sure exactly WHAT he is.

SHE'LL THINK SHE NEEDS NEW GLASSES.

The boy has a blast with his new friend, who showers in the water fountain and snacks on foam rubber from the upholstery. It's quite a day with his new playmate, but as it gets dark outside, the observant boy notices that his alien friend is looking a bit pensive and not a little sad. He stares out the window as if expecting something from the stars. Even a hug doesn't quite shake away the bedtime blues. Could he be homesick for his own house and family?

YOU WILL TURN ON EVERY LIGHT IN THE HOUSE.

YOU'LL ADD A FEW EXTRAS HERE AND THERE!

With every window in the house ablaze and the yard bright with Christmas lights, the home becomes a lighthouse for space aliens looking for their missing family member. And soon a bright spotlight from a hovering spacecraft shines down on the scene.

MEEP! OOG!

SOON YOU AND YOUR ALIEN WILL WAVE GOODBYE.

It's a bittersweet but fond farewell to a close encounter of the alien kind, in Tammi Sauer's latest, Your Alien (Sterling Books, 2015). Goro Fujito's cuddly, tot-sized alien gives this story a gentle mood which celebrates a connection between two very different friends who yet share the warm fondness of their own families. With multiple starred reviews from the critics, this sweet tale lights up the sky, which (the author hints) may yet yield new surprises.

AND YOU WILL BE LOOKING OUT OUR WINDOW WHEN SOMETHING WONDERFUL COMES YOUR WAY!

"Not since E.T. has extraterrestrial entertainment stood such a good chance of making kids (and their parents) tear up," says Publishers Weekly.