FIRST DAY ON EARTH (Cecil Castellucci) - April 1/13

This short and consistently readable book is admittedly rather strange and does take a while to get going, but Mal, a loner and an outsider, eventually does become quite a compelling protagonist. There's also the mystery of whether or not Hooper is an alien - he is, apparently - and I enjoyed the road trip in the book's final stretch. I was a little disappointed that the book ended where it did - Mal goes into space but decides to come back - as I was rooting for a relationship/friendship between Mal and Posey. Still, it's very brisk and entertaining, and I can see why it was namechecked in The Fault in Our Stars. *** out of ****