The night that eleven-year-old Grady Johnson looked out his window and wished upon a shooting star, his life changed forever.Grady, his Ma, and younger sister Luanne are having a hard summer. Dad has died and the family isn’t the same. Though Ma is trying her best, Grady knows they don’t have enough money to get by.The shooting star he saw was a space craft plunging to Earth, and landing at the back of their farm. Extraterrestrial engineer Ralwil Turth has one goal, to fix his power drive and go back home. But things don’t go as planned. Stuck in human form, he gets to know Grady and his family as he works on their farm. He starts to learn about what it means to be human, and the exotic charms of this planet like the taste of potatoes, and how amazing bugs are.As Ralwil grows to care for Grady and his family, he comes up with a plan to help them, sure it will solve all their problems. But when trouble comes, the family’s survival and Ralwil’s very life are on the line.Can Grady find the courage to help his family and save his friend? Fantasy, science fiction novel, Story elements; setting plot and character development, structure: parallel plot, alternate points of view: main characters; Alien and Grady, Comprehension strategy: compare and contrast characters, figurative language; simile, metaphor, hyperbole. Themes: loss, hope, family, friendship, survival, courage Read Less