Slippery Things

Looking for something totally crazy and unique? You've got it.

SLIPPERY THINGS is about a girl who realizes her family is being visited by aliens on a nightly basis - aliens who don't care for their well-being. Larissa comes up with a plan to get rid of the aliens, all the while wondering if she's hallucinating the whole thing, but the plan backfires when the aliens go after her neighbors and friends. This story has a really fun concept implemented with relatable and interesting characters.

The book's downfalls are its insistence on being wordy and using obtuse and unnatural teen language and narration. There is also a frustrating lack of character development and depth, though the book is so short that there isn't really room for much of that. The overall plot is well-conceived and interesting enough, but teens may be frustrated by the inability to determine whether the protagonist is crazy or the aliens are actually real. However, I thought this issue, which permeates the entire story, is concluded well enough in the end and teens should find the resolution satisfying.

The Verdict: A positively strange book that falls a little short, but would still be interesting to reluctant readers in particular.