How I Stole Johnny Depp's Alien Girlfriend by Gary Ghislain
Hardcover, 208 Pages
2011, Chronicle Books
ISBN: 0811874605
Synopsis
David Gershwin's summer is about to take a turn for the weird. When his dad's new patient Zelda tells him she s from outer space and on a quest to take Johnny Depp back to her planet, he knows he should run away screaming. But with one look from her mean, green eyes, David's hooked, and soon he's leaping across rooftops, running from police, and stealing cars just to stay by her side. He might not be a typical hero, but David's going to get the girl even if it takes him to the ends of the earth or beyond.
Review
How I Stole Johnny Depp's Alien Girlfriend is an interesting read. It's imaginative and well-envisioned. The story itself took a little while to convincingly transition from a seemingly social issues novel to clear science fiction adventure. This slow build up helps in creating a feeling of utter reality in a unbelievable situation, but the slow going may lose some readers interest early on.
While I loved the plot, I have a very difficult time with most of the characters. David was hard to connect with. He's an average boy whose lusty feelings towards this clearly insane girl lead him on an adventure. Pretty understandable, but mostly I thought he was just being an idiot. Probably the adult in me coming out here, but his motivation to help Zelda so often and at such a risk to himself was lost on me. Zelda grew on me over time, but her actions and motivations were so alien to me (because, yeah) that I found it hard to care whether or not she ever found her supposed soul mate, Johnny Depp.
I found David's parents to be much more interesting and enjoyable than the main characters. David's dad, a psychiatrist, struggling with how to deal with Zelda was fascinating. As was David's mom's clearly selfish lifestyle. Even Malou, David's older sort-of-step-sister who lived on her own was more interesting that the characters I was supposed to care about.
I think my main trouble relating to David and Zelda was because How I Stole Johnny Depp's Alien Girlfriend is a little too young for me. It straddles the border between middle grade and young adult well and will most likely appeal to readers in those age groups alone. Adult readers of young adult novels may be better served looking elsewhere for their next sci-fi YA read.
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