About this item
A polite race of telepathic killer aliens, a ten-second world conquest, and one teenage boy collide in this wry, gutsy adventure.Jesse is in history class when a formidable, efficient race of aliens quietly takes over the earth in less time than it takes him to brush his teeth. Most humans simply fall asleep and never wake up. In moments, everyone Jesse knows and loves is gone, and he finds that he is now a slave to an inept alien leader. On the bright side, Jesse discovers he's developing telepathic powers, and he's not the only one. Soon he's forging new friendships and feeling unexpectedly hopeful. When a mysterious girl appears in his dreams, talking about escaping, Jesse begins to think the aliens may not be invincible after all. But if Jesse and his friends succeed, is there anywhere left to go? Brian Yansky offers a funny, grim novel packed with everything boys and sci-fi fans love: aliens, humor, action, and a healthy dose of triumph.
About the Author
A lot of people think writers just write about themselves. They do and they don't. For me writing is a mix of imagination and memory.
My latest novel, UTOPIA, IOWA, is fantastical realism (this may be a made up term) that has elements of fantasy and realism, which both exist in my life. I live in a unique town whose motto is Keep Austin Weird. Utopia, Iowa, is also a unique place and has a motto, too: Where people are strange and there are stranger things than people. I was born in Iowa but the town of Utopia comes from my imagination. Good thing too: witches, a banshee, ghosts and other creatures wander in and out of that town.
I am not an alien though my novel, ALIEN INVASION & OTHER INCONVENIENCES, certainly has a lot about aliens in it. I've never experienced an alien invasion either, but aliens take over the world in ten seconds in ALIEN INVASION & OTHER INCONVENIENCES. They're back in the sequel: HOMICIDAL ALIENS & OTHER DISAPPOINTMENTS.
MY ROAD TRIP TO THE PRETTY GIRL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD is about a boy who runs away from home in search of his birth parents. I am adopted. I never looked for my birth parents but I explored that desire in this novel.
My second novel, WONDERS OF THE WORLD, was about street kids. I've never been a street kid, but I did hitchhike all over America and parts of Mexico and Europe when I was younger. I met a lot of interesting people and learned a lot. I got an education that was much cheaper and more scenic than the one I got in college. I do have a couple of degrees, a B.A. and an M.F.A. in Writing, and I teach writing at ACC, so I will say I learned some skills in college, too.
When it comes to fiction my motto might be the same as Austin's: Keep It Weird.
