Emma Williams, Collection Development Specialist at Booksource

8/22/2012 9:27:36 AM
Michael K. is starting fifth grade at a new school in a new town. On his first day of school he is seated with two other students, both also new to town. Within twenty minutes he realizes that these two are not normal. Their speech is all advertising slogans and pro wrestler lines. They eat pencils as if they were carrot sticks! Strangest of all, they claim to be aliens from another planet who have come to help save planet earth from being “turned off”! Michael K. does not even know what that means, but the two Spaceheadz seem to think that Michael K. is crucial to the success of their mission. Things get stranger yet, for it turns out that the mission leader is none other than the class pet hamster! Michael K. knew that the first day of school would be rough, but he never expected it to be so weird!



In the first book of his new series, Spaceheadz, bestselling author, Jon Scieszka, makes good use of media technology while staying in the traditional book format. Readers can explore websites referenced in the story to get more information about the plot. For example, on www.imsuregladthatdidnthappen.com readers can enter a password and learn what would happen if the world actually was “turned off”. The media features tie in well with one of the underlying themes of the book—advertising— a timely and relevant discussion topic in today’s media-blasted world. Students can discuss the advertising they are exposed to and begin to recognize how it is designed to affect them.