Neon Green

Prairie Park, Ill., in 1994 is a cultivated suburb of Chicago. It’s middle-class, clean, and homogeneous, a place where Ernest and Cynthia Allen and their kids, Gabe and Alison, can live nice, normal, environmentally conscious lives. They have friendly neighbors, clean streets, and Aurora Park, a beautiful slice of outdoors. In Wappler’s quirky alternate history debut, this normalcy makes a space ship landing in the Allens’ backyard all the more foreign. Gabe entered a contest for a visit from Jupiter, but not all of the Allens feel like lucky winners. Gabe thinks it’s a hoot, but for Ernest, a dyed-in-the-wool environmentalist, the ship is anathema. When it starts spewing neon green concoctions onto his lawn, Ernest begins a one-man war of wills to have it removed. Wappler’s examination of the world through this one family is well written but ultimately melancholic with no resolution. Agent: Erin Hosier, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner. (July)