Monday, July 6, 2015

Review: Aoleon the Martian Girl Part 1 by Brent LeVasseur

Aoleon the Martian Girl - Part 1
by Brent LeVasseur

Category: Middle Grade
Genre: Science Fiction
Publisher: Aoleon Press
Release Date: Jan 31, 2015
Page Count: 94

Goodreads Synopsis: Mars wants our cows (yes, cows!) and they're sending an invasion fleet to take them from us. Only Gilbert and Aoleon the Martian Girl stand in their way!

Gilbert always longed for adventure but now that he has it, he's not sure that it's everything it's cracked up to be. Ever since the night he met Aoleon the Martian Girl sitting in the middle of a crop circle in Farmer Johnson's field, it's been nothing but one wild ride after another.

From fighting off swarms of giant killer robots to dealing with strange aliens from another world, never mind trekking across the vast Martian desert in order to skyboard deep into the center of a (hopefully!) extinct volcano, Gilbert's had his hand full just trying to keep up with it all. And now it's up to him and his new friend, Aoleon, to face off against the evil Martian overlord and keep our cows safe at home where they belong.

The launch of this exciting and innovatively illustrated new series takes the reader deep into the heart of an unforgettable and out-of-this-world friendship in a story full of hijinks, hilarity, and good old-fashioned fun. Join Gilbert and Aoleon in this exciting middle grade science fiction adventure today!


GOODREADS . AMAZON . B&N

(This book is NOT part of Merit Press, but I am excited to bring you reviews of all five parts of this book this week as an addition to my July posts!)

Review:  When I was first contacted about reading and reviewing all five parts of Aoleon, I was very excited. I have not read a lot of middle grade, and I have been trying to get into some more of it since I do teach middle school reading. The fact that this book promised to have great illustrations was enough for me to agree to read and review it. This first part of the book was an amazing introduction to a fun new story. I am a huge fan of science fiction, and while I have only read a couple of other alien books thus far, I have enjoyed them. This book was no different, and I was thrilled to find an alien GIRL in this book. It was a fun change to what we normally get to see.

The main character, Gilbert, is incredibly relate able, and I'm sure that middle school students will feel the same way. As I am from a small town in Iowa originally, right outside of Omaha, Nebraska, I was thrilled to have a character who was from Nebraska. I could already relate to him, and I thought it was quite fun that he lived right next door to a farm. Gilbert has quite a wild imagination and lots of crazy dreams too, but he never expected to find himself brought into this sort of situation.

As this is the first part of the book, we really just get an introduction into the story. We meet Aoleon, our martian girl, and she and Gilbert become quick friends as he gets into her space ship with her to avoid shots fired from the farmer. They then begin their adventure, flying around so many different countries, and seeing wonderful landmarks (like the Eiffel Tower!).  They make their way into outer space where Aoleon shows Gilbert Mars, and then takes him to her home, which happens to be a huge volcano on another planet. There, Gilbert has to paint his face blue to blend in so they can start working to solve problems and go on more adventures. I am quite excited to see what happens next!

Now, the big part, and what I'm sure you're all interested in. The illustrations! They are SO fun! I have not read a lot of highly illustrated books since I was young, so it was quite fun to get to do so. The pictures are so bright and detailed, and they definitely draw you in. The book took me awhile to get through just because I stopped so much to stare at the pictures. There was just the right amount of pictures to go with the text, too. I am very excited to see the pictures throughout the last four parts of the book.

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