Ruby Finley vs. the Interstellar Invasion. K. Tempest Bradford. 2022. 208 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: Ruby loved bugs. She loved the cool-looking ones and the creepy ones and the pretty ones and the huge ones. The ones with six legs and eight legs and a thousand legs and no legs. She loved looking at them and talking about them and learning about them and picking them up. That last one was usually what got her in trouble.
Premise/plot: Ruby Finley, our protagonist, loves bugs and science. When her unidentifiable find--a bug, of course--brings the "G Men" (government men in suits) to her neighborhood, she doesn't quite know what to think. It's strange, strange, and super-strange. But, they leave claiming that the "assassin bug" has been found and collected. But in the weeks that follow, strange things keep occurring in her neighborhood/community. And Ruby and her friends soon start investigating these strange happenings. But this curiosity could lead to great danger....or great friendship....or maybe a bit of both.
My thoughts: The Interstellar Invasion of the title gives a bit of the plot away. Still the "alien" elements of this story are long in coming. Don't expect alien action from chapter two--or even chapter three. Most of the book is just Ruby living her life--loving science, loving her friends, struggling with rules and restrictions. If you come with the right expectations--a science-loving girl working on a science project and hanging out with friends--then this one is an enjoyable [enough] read. (Perhaps readers who share Ruby's interest in bugs will be even more excited.)
I don't know if the book is setting up for a series or if it's a stand-alone.
© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers
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