I Come from Another Galaxy

An intrepid youth describes life among alien peers in this interstellar journal account turned school tale. Clad in an astronaut get-up, the pale-skinned, dark-haired human narrator anthropologically details the differences that abound: the school bus is a spaceship that beams passengers aboard, the bathroom contains a confusingly many-buttoned contraption, and recess with googly-eyed and noodle-armed classmates centers on a game called “slime-ball.” Finding themself “not slimy enough,” the subject struggles to feel a sense of belonging, but show-and-tell provides an opportunity for connection when the child reads from their journal, finding unexpected support from perspective-taking peers: “It turns out I am the alien here—and it’s OK to be different.” Kwan’s cool-toned drawings combine polychromatic outlining and digitally colored shading that amplifies the story’s fantastical elements. Ages 4–8. (July)