You'll Like It Here (Everybody Does) by Ruth White

You'll Like It Here by Ruth White

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


11-year-old Meggie Blue lives a happy, comfortable life in North Carolina with her mom, older brother, and grandpa.  However, the recent talk among her classmates about aliens makes her unhappy because it brings back bad memories from years ago of the crazy man who trespassed into her class looking for aliens.  An experience like this would traumatize any young child, but this was especially traumatizing for Meggie because she is, in fact, an alien.

Meggie's family first moved from the planet Chroma to Earth when Meggie was just a baby.  They had to leave their home planet because the pollution there was too overpowering.  They first lived in California, but then moved to North Carolina after the crazy man incident in Meggie's class.  Now that the people in North Carolina are growing suspicious of them, they decide that it's time to move on again, but this time they decide to move to an entirely different planet.

Interestingly, they end up on a planet called Earth...but a much different Earth from what they're used to.  The place they find themselves in is called Fashion City, a city run by "The Fathers," where adults are assigned to mindless jobs, clothing isn't allowed to be colorful, and taking "Lotus" pills to make one feel good and numb is encouraged.  The Blue family can't wait to get away from this awful version of Earth, but will they be able to escape before falling victim to the overbearing ways of the city?

I enjoyed this book a lot--I began the story without knowing the plot and was completely surprised to find out that the Blue family are actual aliens!  The Blue family is a nice group of people who genuinely care about others, and this trait shines through strongly when they're in Fashion City and want to help all of its citizens stuck in their dull, repetitive lives.  Those who enjoyed this alien story might also enjoy The True Meaning of Smekday (Adam Rex).



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