The Dark Side of Nowhere [Hardcover]

Neal Shusterman (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 11 and up

Completely frustrated with the predictability of his town, Jason Miller finds himself totally bored, until Ethan, Jason's friend, suddenly dies and Jason quickly discovers that his peaceful town and the town doctor are up to something horribly evil.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9. This story appears at first to be yet another problem novel, populated by teenagers dissatisfied with their too ordinary circumstances. No amount of subtle foreshadowing prepares readers for the direction the plot takes, however. The main character and most of his close friends and relatives are in fact extraterrestrials, living forgotten on Earth after a failed invasion. As the story begins, Jason is bored with life in his small town. The school janitor, Grant, disturbs the boy's placid universe, hinting at long-hidden secrets and presenting him with an odd metallic glove that can fire BBs through its fingers. Later, readers learn that it is a training glove for a far more lethal weapon. Jason slowly realizes that he is part of a colony of aliens who maintain human form through DNA injections, the DNA having been obtained from people killed during their ill-fated invasion. Now Grant has reestablished contact with their lost world. The adult extraterrestrials go off to plan another invasion, leaving Grant to assist the young people as they revert to their alien forms and to train them as fighters. But Jason thwarts this plan, having decided to remain what his mind and emotions tell him he is?human. Shusterman makes most of this believable; the most difficult part of the story to swallow is the way Jason's girlfriend, a real human, takes everything in stride. Still, plenty of adventure and suspense move the story along nicely. Jason is unquestionably a hero. Ultimately, the book asks readers to examine the question of what it means to be truly human. This is great science fiction. It's fun to read and thought-provoking at the same time.?Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 6^-9. Describing his hometown in the book's first chapter, 14-year-old narrator Jason says, "If boredom was a living, breathing thing, then its less interesting cousin would live in Billington." Of course, that's the first chapter, before Jason discovers that his parents are aliens, his schoolmates are secretly in training to fire strange and deadly weapons, his friend Jason didn't die of appendicitis but has been transformed into an otherworldly being, and strangest of all, that beautiful Paula, star pitcher for the baseball team, loves him. Shusterman tells a fast-paced story, giving Jason many vivid, original turns of phrase, letting the plot get weird enough to keep readers enthralled, then coming back to the human emotions at the heart of it all. The ending is less satisfying than the rest of the novel, but Jason's convincing voice carries throughout. A good choice for booktalks. Carolyn Phelan

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Hardcover: 185 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1st edition (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316789070
• ISBN-13: 978-0316789073
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,549,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Neal Shusterman is the author of many novels for young adults, including Unwind, which was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and a Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers, Everlost, and Downsiders, which was nominated for twelve state reading awards. He also writes screenplays for motion pictures and television shows such as Animorphs and Goosebumps. The father of four children, Neal lives in southern California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting SF adventure, August 18, 2002

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dark Side of Nowhere (Mass Market Paperback)

Neal Shusterman is a skilled YA writer, with the ability to blend the surreal and the everyday. One of his better-known books, "Dark Side of Nowhere" is an unusually good kids' SF story, about a group of teenagers who begin to wonder what the strange secrets in their town mean.

Billington is incredibly dull in the opinion of young Jason Miller. The only lull in his Norman Rockwell lifestyle is the sudden, violent death of his friend Ethan by appendicitis. But after that, things began to seem strange. The new girl Paula points out that not everyone in the world receives special allergy shots. Jason finds a picture of a classmate -- from the 1970s. A sinister janitor gives Jason and the other kids "training gloves" that shoot BBs like bullets from the fingertips. And then Jason's parents reveal the stranger-than-fiction truth to him: They, and the families they are close to, are all alien beings stranded on Earth.

Now the janitor Grant says that alien ships are coming to conquer Earth, and strange changes are taking place in the bodies of the alien-human teens. Jason and his friends must learn more about the terrifying and beautiful alien beings that are their own species, and how to stop Earth from being threatened.

It's the dream of every small-town boy who felt that his life is too incredibly dull to be believed, and that "you'll live nice, die nice, and your life will have been a nice waste of time." It may not be every boy's dream to find out he and everyone he knows is an alien, but it's an unusual adventure. Shusterman's writing varies nicely between everyday (burgers, breakfast, baseball, and a father who always calls him "son") and absolutely surreal (such as the scene with a certain transfigured character, a scene where the kids discover their body hair falling off).

Jason is a likeable hero, very realistic. At first he mainly seems interested in breaking out of his dull life by being sarcastic and cocky, but when a real crisis arises he is an intelligent and resourceful person. Paula is pretty good as the human girl he has a sneaking liking for, and Grant is creepy and very believably alien. The kids around Jason are also realistic, although they seemed to be falling into line with him a little too unquestioningly.

Fans of fantasy and SF will undoubtedly enjoy the haunting SF story "Dark Side of Nowhere," with its intriguing plot and good characterizations. Great read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, suspensfull Thriller!!!!!!, January 25, 2002

By 

Rodrigo Carrillo (El Salvador) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dark Side of Nowhere (Mass Market Paperback)

This story is about Jason, a boy who is captivated by the death of his best and closest friend Ethan, who supposedly died of a burst appendix . He and Paula, his girlfriend, investigate this mysterious case. They go to Old town house where surprises await for the two kids. After they went there many clues appeared before them like the killing of two local boys in the town and when suddenly the school janitor approaches Jason and tells him that he has gotten this surprise from him. Afterward he and his friend Paula tried to find the mystery of the missing people but they can't because someone is trying to prevent them from finding the clues that will automatically lead them to this case. The school janitor approaches Jason again, and he gives him this magical glove which can fire pellets when you tense any of your fingers. He then tells Jason to go to Old Town where he himself would be waiting for him. When he arrives there he sees the school janitor among many other children in the camp. Mystically the other children in the camp were exactly the same children that went to their church. This really creeps Jason out and then he sees that all of them had gloves like the ones he had and he gets worried about this whole case.
He tells his parents about what happened and then his parents started to get freaked out at the whole case. They told Jason the truth about everything, what had happended to them before Jason had even been born. Jason freaks out and he doesnt know what to do. He tells Paula the breath taking secret... he was an alien!!!!!!
She couldn't believe what had just come out of Jason's mouth, she was petrified. He then told her that the aliens were going to rule the planet. she got terrified and stopped seeing Jason. Will Jason and his fellow aliens conquer the Earth and make the earth people leave????
Neil Shusterman really exceeded his way of writing in this novel, he puts a bit of him in every page of this book. When you have finished reading a chapter you feel like if you want to read more more more and more. I would really recommend this book to people of all ages because it is a wonderful thriller filled with a magical touch that penetrates you into this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book I ever read, January 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dark Side of Nowhere (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read many books by neal shusterman, but thisis the very best, in fact the best book I ever read, I bet there are alot of adults who would love to read this book. I stayed up half the night and read it when I was supposed to be sleeping, if you like sci-fi or fantasy, you absolutly have to, with out a doubt read this. I am recomending it to every body I know.