I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (Lorian Legacies)

Wow!  This book was great.  Another teen book, and I know my son saw the movie but I'm not sure what made me purchase the book and read it.  I guess maybe it was the blurb on the back.  This is a book about nine aliens who look human who have to leave their planet and come to earth.  They each have one person with them to help care for them and keep them safe.  They are children when they reach Earth and go their separate ways.  They have to survive and sooner or later they will start to get their "gifts' when they become teenagers...which are some sort of powers...and they have no idea what their powers might be.  The book focuses on Number Four of the nine.  The reason the number is so important is that the bad aliens who are after these nine have to kill them in order.  The first chapter in the book is very short and basically lets us know that number three is now dead.

So our story starts with Number Four...he and his guardian are leaving (again) and moving to a new location to try and fit in and hide.  So this boy is an alien who has to fit in with humans...he makes friends but can never stay long in any place and he is waiting for some unknown powers to make themselves known to him at any given time.  He has to stay alive...so they can never go after Number Five.

I am going to do something I didn't really want to do in this blog but I have to because it is something I feel people should be aware of always.  My son saw this movie...he is not a reader (which drives me nuts).  He liked the movie a lot and I thought maybe if I tried to put the book around, he would pick it up...but much to my chagrin, he wanted nothing to do with it.  I read the book and absolutely loved it.  I cried and sobbed and could not believe it was filled with such emotion.  I was so attached to John's guardian Henri that I thought my heart would break at the end of the book (can't tell you why, of course).  Character development was great, the fact that these were aliens living among us was believable because they weren't coming in with hostility and tactile warfare.  They are humble and cute.  I grew very attached to these characters.

You have your typical high school issues with bullies and ex-girlfriend/boyfriend anger issues, and there's also a lesson in there about taking the high road and not following the crowd.

I like this book and give it a high five. 

This book is a hidden gem.  It looks like the book a tween would read for action and destruction but it has so much more.  Spread the word!