cover image How I Stole Johnny Depp's Alien Girlfriend

How I Stole Johnny Depp's Alien Girlfriend

Gary Ghislain. Chronicle, $16.99 (176p) ISBN 978-0-8118-7460-1

In this quirky, hyperkinetic debut, French author Ghislain combines action and absurdity to excellent effect. Fourteen-year-old David is used to his therapist father working with odd patients, but this one takes the cake. Zelda claims to be a warrior woman from the planet Vahalal, on Earth to find her chosen mate: Johnny Depp. With David as her much bewildered guide, she travels from David's village in Normandy to Paris, where she only has hours to succeed before her path home vanishes forever. With the aid of David's unpredictable kinda-stepsister, Malou, they try to track down Depp, running afoul of other Vahalalians, those who never made it home and will do anything to end their time on Earth by completing Zelda's mission ("Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Robert freaking Pattinson! I don't care. We will abduct every single Hollywood stud if it will bring us back to Vahalal"). With violent alien superwomen, the authorities, and his family in hot pursuit, David is having the weirdest time of his life. Short but sweet, this improbably entertaining adventure feels like a Daniel Pinkwater treatment for an early John Cusack film. Ages 12%E2%80%93up. (June)