I’ve never been much of a science nerd, but I love space. Even better, I love space from the comfort of planet Earth. So, if I’m presented with a story about extra-terrestrials, I want the aliens to come here for the duration of the story.
Author Kevin Garone has crafted just such a story with his middle grade novel, I Know What UFO Did Last Summer. Below is my review of the book followed by an interview with Garone about his novel.
I Know What UFO Did Last Summer plot summary
Alien-obsessed Marvin Caldwell and his best friend Jace, two 12-year-old boys from Roxboro, DE prepare for a summer of playing basketball and investigating extra-terrestrials. While camping out one evening, they come across a mysterious craft in the woods. Relying on his guidebook, How to Survive an Alien Invasion, Marv believes that he has finally found the proof he has been searching for in his own backyard.
During their exploration, the two friends run into a girl their age named Nora. She’s the new kid on the block who has moved to town with her dad under mysterious circumstances. While Jace harbors a crush, Marv finds Nora and her father suspicious characters. As the story unfolds, he comes to find that something strange and paranormal is going on, and it’s up to him and his friends to save the world from it.
The story
I Know What UFO Did Last Summer is a fun summer sci-fi novel that plays with the unreliable narrator trope while still offering an adventurous, high stakes conflict for its heroes to resolve. Without giving anything away, Marv, Jace, and Nora do stumble upon something very top secret and world changing. However, Marv has trouble facing the truth and instead maintains the narrative that he’s telling himself in his own head.
The title of the book is a delightful play on words, particularly for millennials who grew up reading the classic Lois Duncan novel, I Know What You Did Last Summer, or watching the 90s horror slashers that it’s based on. This wink to the audience suggests we’re getting into a much less serious story than what unfolds, but I found that to be a good thing.
There is humor throughout the book, but it’s not a side-splitting, laugh out loud kind of tale. Instead, it brings amusement and lightheartedness to keep the story from becoming too dark, especially when our preteen heroes are facing dangerous situations.
The characters
This story feels like a modern-day Don Quixote retelling in which our hero refuses to accept any reality other than the one he has been looking for throughout his time as an ET explorer. This mindset keeps Marv tenacious, but it also keeps him from accepting the real danger that he and his friends face.
In fact, Marv’s obsession with aliens, UFOs, and desperation to be the one to find them out and alert the world to them is at a downright unhealthy level. Not once does he break character and admit, even to the reader, that what’s happening is anything other than an alien attack. This is where the humor comes in. In one particular scene, Marv places a call to a government agency in order to report his findings, only to find that they’re more than familiar with the kid and dismiss his claims as usual.
I think that target readers will get that Marv is taking the wrong approach to his alien hunts. It might even serve as a lesson in credibility and problem solving.
Luckily, there are two grounded sidekicks to round out Marv’s nerdy, obsessive personality. Jace is a jock who goes along with his friend’s plan hoping it will earn him some court time with his friend. You can see that their days as friends are numbered as Jace directs his attention to activities that are more normal for a kid his age, such as sports and girls.
Speaking of girls, Nora is your typical no nonsense teen girl who, despite being the new kid in town, fits right in and isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. It’s clear that Marv sees her as just as much a threat who might take his best friend away as she may be an alien in disguise.
Trust between the two is built over time, though. And through her father’s work, Nora gives Marv the adventure he has been craving.
My recommendation
I recommend I Know What UFO Did Last Summer to anyone looking for a backyard adventure story. You don’t have to be an alien expert to enjoy it. It’s very grounded and action packed and is a quick read that middle grade readers can fill up on without feeling rushed or incomplete.
I would have liked to have learned more about Marv’s backstory, his obsession with the aliens, and why he takes this interest to such extremes. I also would have liked to have seen more character development from the three kids to see how the plot changes them and how they use their individual strengths to overcome the obstacles set before them.
However, I had a lot of fun reading this book. I loved its twists and turns, and I’m glad that Garone has put a classic yet fresh adventure story for kids out into the world.
My rating
An interview with Kevin Garone
You wrote in your bio that you never experienced an alien encounter. Are there any stories about UFOs or extra-terrestrials that you believe are true?
When I was in elementary school, I went through a brief phase where I half-believed that the Animorphs books (which follow high schoolers fighting an alien invasion) were real.
I wouldn’t consider myself a big believer in UFOs or ETs today, but there are definitely a lot of interesting stories about them that are hard to find a “normal” explanation for (especially with all those recent government UFO hearings).
Did any classic sci-fi tales inspire your book?
One inspiration was the sci-fi anime Steins; Gate, which includes a conspiracy surrounding a time machine and a somewhat eccentric main character like Marv. There’s a small Easter egg in the book if you know what to look for.
Do you have any favorite summertime memories from when you were 12?
I grew up going to the beach in Delaware each summer. The long drives to the beach weren’t a favorite part of that trip, but passing by all the corn fields and the forests with their fire towers on those drives became a big source of inspiration for the setting when I was coming up with the story.
My friends and I also spent a lot of time exploring the woods near our homes, building tree houses and forts and stuff like that, which definitely carries over a bit into Marv as well.
Do you have a favorite character?
It has to be Marv! I can imagine he would be a bit much to hang out with on a regular basis since he’s so obsessed with alien conspiracy theories, but his attitude toward everything (and the way others react to him) makes me laugh.
How did you come up with the excerpts from How to Survive an Alien Invasion that are featured at the beginning of each chapter? Did you write them as you went, or were those inserted into the story later?
The excerpts were inspired by reading The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks. When I read it, the idea popped into my head about a kid who had a similar guidebook about aliens that he thought was 100% real.
Writing the excerpts was a mix of writing them as I went along and going back later to come up with something that was a thematic fit for the chapter they went with. It just depended on how quickly I could come up with the idea for the excerpt.
Despite making outlandish claims, Marv is a very passionate and insistent character who you know truly believes his theories. What advice do you have for kids who feel like they have something to say that seems unbelievable and feel like they’re not being heard?
Don’t give up hope. Be true to yourself and what you know is right, and you’ll be able to find the people who believe you and believe in you. Of course, just make sure you’re not like Marv and calling the National Guard because you think everything is an alien conspiracy!
What do you want readers to take away from your stories?
First, that reading can be fun. I think fun and exciting stories that get kids to enjoy reading will always be important for creating lifelong readers. I also hope kids can see that they can face hard or scary things.
What’s next for you?
I’m wrapping up editing a sequel for Marv and his friends that I hope to publish later this year. After that, I have several standalone middle grade books that lean a bit more into horror. I’m excited to get them all out into the world!
Buy it!
Buy a copy of I Know What UFO Did Last Summer here, and help support local bookstores. This is an affiliate link, and I will earn a commission on any sales.
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