This was great fun! I enjoyed it a lot. I'm not sure I'll search out the rest of the series, but I can see that kids might love to see what happens next. ( )

Pretty cute. Easy to read out loud to the boys. They liked it and laughed out loud in places. The main character, Scrub, is a 12 year old boy staying at his grandmother's bed and breakfast for the summer. He finds out that her guests are all aliens. He learns to work at the inn while at the same time making friends with a local girl. The aliens are wonderfully wacky and Mr. Harnox who is stuck on earth is more human and caring than most of the real humans.

Scrub learns lessons in tolerance and responsibility. He learns to stand up for himself and he learns to use his ingenuity and how to become more self reliant and how to trust himself.

This is a nice book for the 9 to 12 year old set. It is funny and has some positive messages without preaching or talking down to the reader. My boys didn't even mind that there was a bit of kissing in it, even though my 11 year old did have to hide his head to listen to that bit. ( )

Smith, Clete Barrett. Aliens on Vacation. Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast No. 1. Disney Hyperion, 2011.
Aliens on Vacation is a better-than-average science fiction novel aimed at 6th graders. Florida boy Scrub is sent by his not-so-cuddly parents to spend the summer with his grandmother in northern Washington state. She is an aging flower child who does not own a television set, have an internet connection, or junk food in her fridge. What she does have is a house with a changing cast of tourists from other star systems. They usually speak a little English, but they need enough costuming and makeup to pass for human for a day or two as they wander around a small town. Scrub knows none of this when he arrives, and it is fun watching him adjust to his new environment. He is an endearing first-person narrator who usually aims to do the right thing, even if he does not always know what that is. The story teaches some lessons about friendship and diversity, but they go down easy. It is amusing to watch Scrub apply the principle of good basketball point guard play to shepherding clueless aliens around the area. The novel is part of a trilogy that was completed in 2013. Disney plans a movie version, but so far it is vaporware. 3.5 stars. ( )

Great read.

This book is appropriate for 4th-5th graders and has won several screenwriting awards.