FINISHED:
Lore, Pittacus. (2010). I am Number Four. New York: HarperCollins.

[Number Four is a fifteen year-old who came to Earth with his “handler” Henri ten years ago, escaping his home planet of Lorien when Mogodorians invaded and wiped out the rest of the population. Still on the run from the Mogodorians, Henri and Number Four (who has taken on the pseudonym John Smith) settle for the umpteenth time in a small rural Ohio town, hoping to keep a low profile while John begins to come into and develop his “legacies”, or special powers. Unfortunately, after looking into a “they walk among us” underground ‘zine which has info that hits a bit too close to home, and being a bit too heroic and conspicuous while saving friends from a house fire, John receives a note saying “Are you Number 4?” and realizes that he’s been found and will have to fight for his survival. While it reads like a typical “teenager moves to a small town” screenplay, the plot is cliched (of course, John falls for the prettiest girl in school who happens to be the ex of the school sporto/bully), and most characters are 2-dimensional, the novel does move at a steady pace and there are a few surprises (what’s up with Bernie Kosar, the beagle that follows John around??). Though the book is said to be written by Pittacus Lore, a 10,000 year-old Loric Elder, Lore is actually a pseudonym for two co-writers, one of whom is Oprah-shamed author James Frey (A Million Little Pieces, Nan A. Talese, 2003). A feature film version of the book (co-executive produced by Steven Spielberg) is already due out in February 2011.]

STARTED:
Epstein, Adam Jay, and Jacobson, Andrew. (2010). The Familiars. New York: HarperCollins.

[Can't remember where I first heard about this one, but I was intrigued.]

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