Title:
SUMMER ON EARTH
Author: Peter Thompson
Publisher: Persnickety Press
Pages: 293
Genre: Sci-fi / Middle Grade
BOOK BLURB:
The night
that eleven-year-old Grady Johnson looked out his window and wished upon a
shooting star, his life changed forever.
Grady,
his Ma, and younger sister Luanne are having a hard summer. Dad has died and
the family isn’t the same. Though Ma is trying her best, Grady knows they don’t
have enough money to get by.
The
shooting star he saw was a space craft plunging to Earth, and landing at the
back of their farm. Extraterrestrial engineer Ralwil Turth has one goal, to fix
his power drive and go back home. But things don’t go as planned. Stuck in
human form, he gets to know Grady and his family as he works on their farm. He
starts to learn about what it means to be human, and the exotic charms of this
planet like the taste of potatoes, and how amazing bugs are.
Ralwil
grows to care for Grady and his family. On a trip to town, he realizes that
money is what matters to humans, and is the cause of the family’s trouble. That
night, he uses his technology to combine a twenty-dollar bill with an oak twig.
Over the next week this grows to a towering tree, every leaf a twenty-dollar
bill. This, Ralwil is sure, will solve all the family’s problems.
But
the family’s wealth raises suspicion in this small town, and this soon leads to
more trouble. With the family’s fate, and Ralwil’s life, on the line, Grady has
to find the courage to help his family and save his friend.
Summer
on Earth
blends humor, adventure and poignancy to create an unforgettable story
about finding home.
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The First Page:
Before
It was hotter than usual that night, and
Grady couldn’t get comfortable, even with the fan on high. The June bugs
thumped against the window screen, and the crickets chirped so loudly it
sounded like they were right there in the room. He could hear the TV on
downstairs, so he knew Ma was still awake. Ever since Dad died she’d stayed up
late most every night.
Grady just stared
out the window and looked at the night sky. Where they lived, out in the country,
there wasn’t much light at night and the stars stood out more than they did in
the city. Grady tried to find the constellations his Dad had taught him, just
letting his mind wander. At some point he started to get sleepy. But before he
fell asleep, he saw a shooting star. And when he saw it, he made a wish.
This is the story of how that wish came
true.
About the Author
Peter
Thompson grew up in Illinois, and lives near Chicago. He remembers how excited he was when the first astronaut
stepped on to the moon. He has had an appreciation of space, and all its
possibilities ever since. His love of children’s books developed while
reading to his three sons. His first
novel, Living Proof, was a thriller
published by Berkeley Books. Summer
on Earth is his first book for younger readers. It will
be released in August of this year.
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