Sasquatch and Aliens: Alien Encounter by Charise Mericle Harper (review)

When Morgan meets Lewis, Lewis is hanging by his underwear from a tree in the woods and nine-year-old Morgan must cut him down. Despite this awkward introduction, the pair becomes fast friends, facilitated by quirky Lewis’ cool home in an until-recently abandoned motel outside of town. On an excursion in the woods the boys spot an enormous dark-eyed, wrinkly alien and, spurred by Morgan’s dad (a “believer”), they report their close encounter to the media. The discovery of what they really saw—a mysterious neighbor’s movie prop—encourages them to change their public story to having seen Sasquatch, and then they need to use Morgan’s sister’s knitting to provide some “evidence” of Bigfoot in the wild to cover their story. The book really shines in its development of Morgan as a kid still figuring himself out in the context of a new relationship, and in its nevermissing-a-beat humor about subjects including terrible muffins, Lewis’ hippie mother, and Morgan’s sister’s imaginary boyfriend. This, of course, wouldn’t be Harper without plenty of doodles, and the most laugh-out-loud bits come from the talking lasagnas, pithy counterpoints, and straight-faced captions in the wonky hand drawings. Though less-over-the-top than Potter’s Otis Dooda: Strange but True (BCCB 9/13), its similar emphasis on zany new friendships will make this a solid readalike, and fans will be well set-up for more antics from Morgan and Lewis in the series’ future installments.