An enjoyable YA science fiction tale. The Earth-kid-meets-alien plot line is interesting, with enough twists to keep me turning pages.

There are evil monsters in disguise, a stolen religious relic, and ghosts; all the things I would expect in a good story, but there is also a generous helping of teenage worries, troubles with parents and misinterpretation of adult motives to make me feel at home with the young protagonist Puck. Some human feelings and experiences don't change - even in outer space. Recommended. ( )

Alien Secrets is a fantastic novel about a girl and an alien who become friends on an interstellar adventure! This novel is an excellent science fiction mystery that is captivating and and very well written. I bought this book at a book fair when I was in the seventh grade and it has been a favorite ever since. This is one of the few books I can truly say I have read more than a dozen times. Each time is more enjoyable than the last. I have always wished there were a sequel to this book! ( )

Alien Secrets by Annette Klause is a science fiction novel meant for late elementary to early junior high readers. Puck, the “almost 13” year old redhead is the protagonist who is witness to a murder by lightknife while she is waiting to board the space ship that will take her to planet Aurora where her parents work. Puck’s been expelled from Stonebrook, the school she attends on Earth, and is heading home to Shoon as a result. Once on the ship, she joins a guided tour given by Michael-who is hoping to become a hyperspace navigator- and befriends an alien named Hush, who she discovers likes chocolate. They develop a close friendship as she helps him find a treasure, the Soo, he lost before boarding the ship. Klause’s use of the friendship and actions of Hush the alien boy, Michael, and others like Swann make this story very believable. Tender moments like when Swann explains his frustration and sadness that he sees thing differently than anyone and wishes he would see things that everyone else could understand to have “order” help reveal universal truths. Here Klause creates a moment that children can identify with, wanting to be like everyone else and fitting in, yet in reality, everyone is unique and it’s okay to be different. Complete with a murder mystery solved by the antagonist, ghosts, aliens, and a spaceship in trouble as it has been overtaken by the Graks, the book is a exciting and suspenseful. ( )

This was a fun and quick read. (Started it yesterday and finished this morning.) The protagonist is Puck, a thirteen-year-old girl who has been expelled from her boarding school on Earth and must travel to the planet Aurora where her parents -- the Goodfellows -- are working as xenobiologists. Aboard the tramp freighter she is traveling on, Puck meets Hush, a young Shoowa (natives of Aurora which they call Shoon), who has been traveling to his home planet bearing a treasured artifact. Unfortunately, shortly before boarding the freighter, the artifact was stolen from him. Puck and Hush set about to locate and recover the artifact, building a close friendship along the way. ( )

As a child I was required to read one Bluebonnet-nominated laureate, a book the state of Texas feels is specifically representative of the best of the best in that field. This book was the only sci-fi novel that managed to make it into the entries, and as I had to read it or risk a big F it became my defacto book of choice.

I was not disappointed.

This book is a classic of my childhood and well-written with enough backstory to keep people not necessarily intended for this age bracket reading. The main plot is a "Murder on the Orient Express"-style tale of a killing on a large transportation archetype, but there's a backdrop of a post-war conspiracy, and shades of 21st century terrorism in here as well. If you have a child with any interest in science fiction, I highly recommend giving this book to them. ( )