Oh No! UFO!

Meet the Strange family! Dad, popular cable show host, is a passionate paranormal debunker, bent on proving logic always wins. Mom, an environmental activist in search of a cause, is a woman of the earth, whose idea of a hearty meal consists of cucumber-and-apricot-jelly sandwiches. Lucas, a ten-year-old actor-wannabe, lives on the edge of stardom. Amber, a cherubic, golden-haired first-grader, talks to the animals in Dr. Doolittle fashion. Then there's average, boring Cassie, two years from teendom, who prefers to live low-key with no special talents, and claims she's the only normal seed in the Strange household. When Dad decides on a family vacation to the China Flat Campground, Cassie is elated. What's more normal than family togetherness? Normal, however, quickly turns strange as Cassie discovers her father is on another secret mission. After his hands-off, top-secret briefcase thuds to the ground, papers fly and an eerie photo catches her by surprise. There, glowing against a star-filled, velvet sky, is a banana-shaped sphere, caught in a glossy Kodak moment of all moments! Shock soon turns to fear when Cassie realizes Amber is the victim of an alien abduction. To win her sister's freedom, she must become a risk-taker. In so doing, can Cassie prove she has the zeal for real-life adventure? Singleton, author of more than twenty-five books, including the Regeneration and The Seer series, spends her spare time researching mysterious legends and destinations for her books. Oh No! UFO!, a mystery written for ages 9-12, is loosely based on a true-life family excursion as a child. She brings the wide-eyed innocence of her youthful memories to life through a zany cast of colorful characters. The first-person narration provides the reader a front-row seat to the hilarity of the family dynamics and the jaw-dropping effect of the surprise factor built into each chain-reactive scene. Short chapters, clever titles, and an imaginative plot maxed to the limit with non-stop action, all work in unison to ensure a successful reading experience for younger readers. Singleton's style is refreshing, and her story, vivid and unmistakably believable--doodlezapps, zillofaxes, babbzonks, and all!

If this first book in the Strange Encounters series is what I can expect from those to come, then I'm reading all of them. The Strange Family are fun, quirky characters. Lots of humorous dialogue weaved into a well-drawn plot. You won't want to put it down.

What do you do when your sister is taken over by aliens? This is the problem Cassie faces in Linda Joy Singleton's newest novel, Oh No! UFO!, the first in her Strange Encounters series. Poor Cassie just wants a normal family and a normal life. But these characters are anything but normal! This books was so much fun, and I highly recommend it for all boys and girls in 3-6 grade.

Cassie Strange believes herself to be the only normal person in her entire family. Her dad is a TV celebrity whose show dares people to show the public paranormal activities and then he proves it all to be lies. Her mom communes with nature way too much. She once wore a grass dress, complete with worms. Her brother is a genius and determined to be an actor someday. So each week he lives out a different character's personality. And her little sister, Amber, has a secret way of talking to animals. Cassie has no talents and is only average in school. She wishes her whole family was just normal! When her family sets out for a camping trip Cassie believes her wish is granted at least temporarily. She should have known her dad was doing something for his show. All was going smoothly, until an alien kidnaps Amber and replaces her with an imposter! Of course, no one believes Cassie. What now? ***** An excellent book that fans of R.L. Stine will adore! This looks to be a promising start to a new series involving the Strange family and I, for one, can hardly wait for the next release. In my opinion, anyone age ten to adult will enjoy this intriguing story. Recommended! ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.