Lombardi, T. (2008). My summer on earth. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.
Summary
This is the story of Clint, an alien sent to Earth to bring back another alien who went to Earth and didn't return and has become an actor in Hollywood. When Clint arrives in Los Angeles to look for the alien he is supposed to bring home, he comes in the form of a teenage boy. Instead of getting the job done and taking the alien home, he settles into the life of the teenager. He enjoys the beach and meets lots of interesting characters including a runaway named Zoe whom he falls hard for. Clint has no experience with human sex and much of the book is very graphic as he explores this new area.
Worth Another Cup of Tea?
Not for me, thank you. I found this book too graphic and honestly, I had to make myself finish it. Science Fiction is not a favorite genre of mine, and this is not a book I would want to pick up again.
Reviews
Clint, an alien disguised as a human, is on a mission to Los Angeles. His orders are to retrieve another being who defected from his planet to became an Oscar-nominated actor on Earth. The aliens fear the alien-turned-actor plans to make a film about their planet that will threaten their existence. In order to assimilate into Earthling culture, Clint wears an Earth suit modeled after a younger version of a prominent actor on Earth, Clint Eastwood. Clint has always wanted an adventure, but he is unprepared for life on Earth as a teenage male. Clint is quickly distracted by earthling females and becomes obsessed with experiencing Earthling sex. He is drawn to Zoe, a local runaway, forcing Clint to decide between following through with the mission or defecting to stay with Zoe. Alien disguised as teenage boy seems like a great premise, but this book falls flat quickly. The intended humor of clueless and foul-mouthed Clint fumbling through teenaged life on Earth is lost through the excessive profanity and extreme overuse of the word douche-for example douchey mission. The book's irony is the mature content in the face of excessively immature writing and characterization. The sexual content can be over-the-top, especially when readers discover Clint has a larger than average penis size. The poor writing, crude toilet humor, and mature scenes give this book a very limited audience.--Voice of Youth Advocates, August, 2008.
A potty-mouthed young alien disguised as a teenager wades ashore on Southern California's Venice Beach and discovers that he has a lot to learn, both about impersonating a human and about getting laid. Who better to teach him than a junkie beach bum, a 15-year-old runaway named Zoë, and a member of his own species masquerading as a fading Hollywood superstar? Well, yes, almost anyone else but there you are. Lombardi's debut covers so many bases (romantic comedy, SoCal satire, and a poignant coming-of-age tale) that many readers will suffer mental whiplash, but the inspired premise, the frequent raunchy bits, and hilarious misunderstandings will elicit gales of guffaws from some young echo boomers. Not a first purchase, but fun for some.--Booklist, March, 2008.
In The Library
Honestly, I'm not sure. This is very graphic book with explicit sexual content that would need to be monitored closely.
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