Fitting into junior high is tough on anyone, but it is especially hard for Jake Wind. He has the extra challenge that he is an alien from another planet who has recently been having problems controling when he shapeshifts. He is therefore pleasantly surprised when he makes a new friend, Agnes, on the first day of school. One day when they are eating lunch together on the edge of the soccer field, a sinkhole opens up in the ground nearby. It triggers Jake's shapeshifting urge, and also contains a kind of ooze similar to Jake's natural form. Jake and Agnes start to investigate the mysterious sinkholes that have been popping up all over town and their investigation leads them to a ominous abandonded mall on the outskirts of town that holds a secret so big it will change their lives forever.
I picked this book on the fly when I had to find something new to listen to in a hurry. It is a cute, if a little bit odd, middlegrade science fiction. The characters, even the peripheral ones, are each a bit quirky but charming. My favorite side character was the hippy uncle, though the proctologist dad was pretty good, too. There is plenty action and 6th-grade-boy humor to keep reluctant readers engaged. This one was probably not on anyone's Newbery list last year, but I can think of lots of kids that would like it. (2021, 208 p)
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