The Only Alien on the Planet (1995) (edit title/settings)

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Characters/People edit see section history

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• Ginny Christianson: The main character of the novel who is the new girl who is instantly drawn to Smitty. Her and Caulder push Smitty in an attempt to make him 'human' again. In a way, is responsible for his healing process.
• Caulder: Ginny and Michael's best friend. He is the only friend Smitty has and although he has no idea what Smitty is thinking he acts normal around him and is there for him no matter what.
• Michael 'Smitty' Tibbs: The boy who cannot talk or be touched. He truly believes that there is a bomb in his head that goes off whenever he is touched or speaks. Which is why when he kisses Ginny, he nearly dies, because he really believes that whats going to happen.
• Russell Tibbs: Smitty's older brother.
• Hally: Ginny's other best friend and Caulder's love interest.
• Paul: Add a description of this character.
• Pete Zabriski: A boy in Ginny's class whom she develops a minor crush on.
• Dr. Woodhouse
• Mrs. Shein
• John
• Melissa

Quotes edit see section history

• “I decided then and there - no Great Adventure is worth this kind of pain. No new life is worth demoting the old one to Beautiful Model. No Great Adventure will ever be worth the price. I swore to myself, feeling a lot like Scarlett O’Hara. I’ll never go wondering again. Give me safe, warm hearthside and comfortable, old furniture; give me familiar, beloved faces – definitely, I am a fan of the Known and Constant Universe.”

  Ginny Christianson

• “In a desperate bid for sanity, I told myself, This is the first day of school for all these people; everybody’s got to be a little off-balance. I could hear Paul telling me, Never, never make the mistake of thinking you’re the only alien on the planet.”

  Ginny Christianson

• “"At least now we know for sure-he responds to emotion. He feels things.""You can hurt somebody who's got feelings," I said, fairly sure I shouldn't have to point that out. Caulder pursed his lips and ran his finger along a crack in the dashboard. "Okay," he said."Okay, what?""Okay. Now we really start pushing him." "Caulder," I breathed. "What are you saying?"He looked at me. "Whatever we're doing, it's working. We've got to keep it up.""But what if we hurt him?" I asked very clearly so he couldn't miss the question.Caulder looked at me. He'd just realized I was there. "Don't you get it?" he asked. "We're getting in there. We're waking him up. So maybe it's going to hurt him a little. Well, to save a life, maybe it's worth it. We can't think about ourselves right now, Gin. We've got to think about what's going to be good for him..."”

  Caulder; Ginny

• “"Do you know how long I've waited just to talk to him?" Caulder asked, talking to himself again. He got out of the car. I got out too, and we stood there with that car between us. "This is the most important thing I've ever done," he told me. "I'm going to follow it through."He told me good night, and then he went into his house without even watching me home. Like some kind of stranger. Like somebody I didn't know.”

  Caulder

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• Never, never make the mistake of thinking you're the only alien on the planet.

  Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers

• It's because I'm the kind of person people forget, that's why. I just might as well not even exist. I'm not the kind of person people fight for. I'm just sort of an extra. I might as well just sit here the rest of my life. Alone.

  Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers

First Sentence edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Kristen D. Randle (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Although I read this book when I was 10 or 11, I would only recommend this to the most mature tweens. This book has some very dark moments. Although the lessons contained within its pages are essentially to young children struggling with facing or being the "other", this book is probably too intense for younger readers.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Children's Books › People & Places › Social Situations › Friendship › Fiction
• Books › Children's Books › People & Places › Social Issues › Special Needs › Fiction
• Books › Children's Books › Issues › Moving
• Books › Children's Books › Literature
• Books › Teens