Alien in the Bottle
Kathy Mackel
HarperCollins, Mar 2004, $15.99, 208 pp.
ISBN: 0060292814

Middle-school student Sean dreams of becoming a glass artist so he is always picking up odd looking glass. He finds a bottle that turns out to be the damaged spacecraft of interstellar junk yard dealer and con artist Tagg Orion. Inside the bottle is much greater than the outside container.

Sean sees his amazing find as an opportunity to become closer with the girl of his dreams, stargazing classmate Olivia. However, Sean's stellar find turns nasty as Dinn Tauro comes after Tagg for selling him a non-detachable Dream Ring that animates cretins previously residing in nightmares. Now Sean and Olivia are caught in the middle between an irate customer and a con artist junk dealer.

Aimed for an upper elementary school audience, ALIEN IN THE BOTTLE is a fabulous fantasy tale that adults will enjoy too especially those who remember Krypton's Kander. The story line is fast-paced with wonderful fight scenes including classic food fights and skirmishes with gorilla sized rodents. However, the key to this wonderful story is the lead human duet that learns the importance of friendship while struggling to resolve an intergalactic mess.

Harriet Klausner