Hi from Outer Space by Fiona Katauskas

Alex knows she is good at cartooning and wants to win the National Young Cartoonist competition’s junior division category 'Truth is stranger than fiction' and entries close soon. When an inspired experiment involving a banana peel and a cactus lands her dad in hospital with a prickly bum, he is very understanding. Banana peels really are slippery in real life and the video goes viral but Alex still needs inspiration for the competition comic so takes the dog for a walk. She is stunned when a spaceship lands nearby and an alien emerges saying 'Take me to your leader'. It turns out the alien, Hi, whose real name 'sounds like someone bashing a toy piano with a large inflatable hammer then accidentally stepping backwards onto a cat’s tail' has been dropped off by his parents to complete a school assignment on leadership for his human studies class. Hi, (he chose the name Hieronymus Bosch from the list of Earth’s 673 coolest names) wants to interview an earthling leader to get an A++ for his assignment. Seeing mutual opportunities Alex takes Hi home for the night where she starts to suspect Hi is more interested in shoes than completing his assignment. The pace is fast and the subplots well handled. The opportunities for fun takes on everyday activities, like making pancakes, viewed through alien eyes, are beautifully realized both in prose and the energetic cartoons full of detail and affection. The wordplay is great with lots of puns and alliteration like Discombobulation Denial Disorder and there are fart and poo jokes thrown in. Ultimately the pair learn a lot about what makes a good leader and gather plenty of inspiration along the way. The author’s background in political cartooning makes the cartoons exceptionally engaging.

Themes: Aliens, Humour, Friendship, Leadership.

Sue Speck