Alien Game - Softcover

Grade 5-8?The students at Oak Hill School annually participate in a sort of icebreaker game, called Elimination, as a way of helping kids get to know one another. It involves tagging individuals and claiming their game cards until only one is left, holding all of the cards. This year the game has taken on added excitement because of Christina, a new girl who is particularly adept at playing. Zoe becomes frightened when the students whom Christina tags appear mesmerized by her. They start getting sick in large numbers. Soon Zoe begins to suspect that Christina is an alien. Her fears are confirmed and she and a friend try to keep the girl from winning the game. In an exciting climax, Zoe learns that the winner will be taken away in an alien Transport along with all of the zombielike children. At the last moment a teacher steps forward and saves the day, going off in the Transport alone. Despite the fast-moving plot, weaknesses abound. The game appears to be an end in itself; no clear motives for promoting it are ever revealed. Also, Zoe's parents seem unusually calm when she starts describing Christina's disconcerting habit of dissolving into tiny pinpoints of light before her eyes. Adults at the school are amazingly tolerant of the chaos and upheaval the game causes. This story is for young sci-fi fans who enjoy excitement but won't be too analytical when it's all over.?Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC
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