The Little Alien – Middle Grade Science Fiction

The Little Alien provides fun science fiction for upper elementary and middle grades, another great story from Joe Corcoran…

While the galaxy was still young, an alien civilisation rose and fell. Five thousand years have now passed since it was destroyed, and only a handful of elderly citizens still survive – two dozen elders and one child. As he plays in the ruins of his ancestors’ mightiest city, the Little Alien has no idea how much hope these elders have placed in him. Soon, however, the secrets of the past will be revealed and he will accept a vital mission. Together with Squidge, his best and only friend, the Little Alien will embark on an epic adventure that will take him to the very edge of the galaxy. Will he have the wisdom to discover the power that sleeps within him? Will he have the strength to wield it? The adventure begins in this, the first book of The Little Alien trilogy.

Sample Text from The Little Alien

Chapter 1: In Trouble … Again

He stood at the top of a very tall cliff. When he was just a hatchling, they wouldn’t let him play here in case he fell. Maybe that was why he now liked this place so much, or maybe it was just because of the fantastic view. From here you could see everything. Starting at the base of the cliffs and stretching out – like a sea – almost to the horizon, was a huge forest of tongue trees. Their big, broad leaves were unrolled in the afternoon sunshine, and a strong breeze chased countless ripples across the canopy. Only the desolate Garrick Mountains finally stemmed the tide. These emerged, grey and sullen, from the endless greenery, and their peaks were lost in the clouds. One day, thought the Little Alien, I’ll climb those. Although, he had heard that they went so high you needed to wear a spacesuit at the top, and he wasn’t sure where he would find one of those nowadays. Then, away to the left, there was the city. It must have been very beautiful once, and it was still impressive, even though it had been half overgrown by the forest. A sparkling river picked its way between the buildings. The elders said that, in ancient times, people used rivers for transportation, and that was why the city was built where it was. Now, however, the river was more of a barrier than a highway. While one bank was overgrown with trees, the other was clear and so was the rest of the city beyond. The Little Alien liked to explore both sides – fortunately, the old bridges were still standing. In fact, a lot of things in that ancient place were still working, and others could be coaxed into life with some simple repairs.

“I’m bored,” said Squidge, and the Little Alien realised that he had been standing staring at the view for a long time. He scratched his chin with his claw and turned to his odd-looking friend.

“What shall we do?” he asked.

Squidge always had good ideas about what to do. The elders had made him especially for the Little Alien so that he would have someone to play with. There weren’t any other children – everyone else was old. What was puzzling, however, was why they had made Squidge look so crazy. Why only two arms, rather than three, and why two hands but no claw or tentacle? It was totally impractical. Then there was his squidgy, pink body, his lack of scales and his spindly legs. Every time the Little Alien looked at Squidge he wanted to giggle.

“Let’s ride stiltbirds,” said Squidge, “Let’s see if we can ride them all the way down to the city!”

“But, Squidge,” protested the Little Alien, “you know what happened last time we rode stiltbirds. You fell and broke, and I had to fix you, and it took ages.”

Squidge seemed to break a lot. When he was younger, the Little Alien would take him to one of the elders to be fixed, but the elders were always cross about him ‘not looking after his toys’, so the Little Alien had learnt how to mend Squidge himself. If he were honest, it was also that word toy that he didn’t want to hear. He knew that Squidge was something that had been built – a thing and not a person – but he was also the only friend that the Little Alien had ever known. He and Squidge would always look after each other. Always.

“This time it’ll be different,” said Squidge, “This time I’ll be able to hold on because I’ve been exercising and building up my muscles.”

< End of Page one of The Little Alien>

Want to Read more of Joe’s Books? 

See more of Joe’s Stories on FKB here: https://freekidsbooks.org/author/joe-corcoran/

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