REVIEW: A Brief Stay at Earth Human Camp, by Marie Collins

Today I am reviewing another novel, one provided by author Marie C. Collins. She emailed me and provided me with the book for free, in exchange for a honest review

About the Book

Statistics

Format: Kindle
Length: 400 pages
Published:  April 2015, by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Synopsis (Provided by Marie Collins)

Once you find out your mother is an alien, what ISN’T possible?!
           

That’s what 12-year-old Anne and 10-year-old Atticus Reade want to know. Minutes after learning that their mother is from the planet Farbookonia and that their parents’ secret project has put them all in danger, the children are wrenched from their sheltered existence in the Midwest and whisked off to a safe sleep-away camp in New Jersey — each with a tiny, protective “Globot” on one shoulder.

Painfully aware they’re not like the others at camp, Anne and Atticus do their best to fit in while concealing their alien background and the “special talents” that go with it. But everything is so new to them, they have a hard time sorting reality from fiction. Quirky campers, campfire ghost stories, a bizarre camp director, vintage sci-fi Fridays, Anne’s mysterious dreams, and Atticus’s unusual animal encounters are all equally disturbing.

Just as they start getting the hang of life among young Earth humans, a broadcast on the Rec Hall TV shakes things up, and things that are truly strange emerge from normal newness. It turns out Anne and Atticus — and their new friends — may not be safe at camp after all. A Brief Stay at Earth Human Camp thrusts them into a reality they wish was fiction.

 

My Review

 

The first thing I can say about this book is that, particularly at the beginning, the novel has the feel of the work of Dr. Seuss or Roald Dahl. The similarities really are impressive, and it really made me think that the book really was going to remain that light-hearted.

 

At the beginning, the book feels amusing and light-hearted. Then it starts getting progressively more ominous. There are small climaxes everywhere, and more and more mystery builds. It is a race against time for Atticus and Anne, and a race against themselves.

 

Throughout the novel, the children are trying to discover new things about our society and how to fit into it, at the same time as learning more about themselves and the increasingly dark events at the camp.

 

Collins did a spectacular job on this novel, and it is really something that I would recommend for teens. Don't let the synopsis make you feel like it is too young for you, because I honestly thought it fit into the YA genre very well.

 

It was an incredible book, one that makes me very excited to read the rest of the series. I commend Marie Collins on her spectacular work on this novel, one which makes you feel the stormclouds gather as you prepare for the storm.

 

I have given this novel: