My Teacher is an Alien
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My Teacher is an Alien is a four-book science fiction children's book series by Bruce Coville. The titles include:
- My Teacher is an Alien (1989)
- My Teacher Fried my Brains
- My Teacher Glows in the Dark
- My Teacher Flunked the Planet
The plot is about three American children, Peter Thompson the nerd, Susan Simmons the cool girl and Duncan Dougal the bully. Susan discovers that their unfriendly teacher, Mr. Smith, is actually an undercover alien, an orange-eyed green humanoid called Broxholm, who seems to be planning a world invasion. She calls upon Peter for help, and later for Duncan. Later, they find out that Broxholm's intentions are much more complex about the fate of planet Earth, and that many other aliens lurk behind...
The children publicly reveal Mr. Smith as Broxholm the alien. He is forced to escape. Peter, who is sick of life on Earth (especially due to his indifferent father), decides to help him in his runaway in order to come with him. (My Teacher is An Alien). Broxholm agrees and takes him on his spaceship which brings both of them to a huge space station called the New Jersey (named after the American state by an alien fond of Earth). Peter meets several colorful aliens, such as Dr. Kritzklumpf (nicknamed Croc Doc by Peter) the red crocodile-like surgeon, and Hoo-Lan the phosphorescent blue-skinned dwarf who becomes Peter's mentor. Peter finds out, after meeting a great interplanetary council, that aliens from all over the universe are worrying about the danger posed by planet Earth, where humans evolved very quickly and yet act very uncivilized towards each other, causing world hunger, dictatorships, pollution and nature devastation. Those extra-terrestrials try to make a decision about the fate of Earth, wondering whether to destroy it, to invade it, to set a barrier around it or leave it untouched. (My Teacher Glows in the Dark).
Meanwhile, Duncan Dougal finds out that another undercover alien is amongst his teachers. Being a notorious bully, he has trouble to get people to trust him. He later finds that his favorite teacher, young cooking instructor Miss Karpou, is actually Kreeblim, a green-skinned tentacle-haired female alien who has a pet "poot" named Poot (A poot is a small, yellowish-white alien slug creature that can stretch and, if seized firmly and pulled apart, will stretch and eventually split into two poots, independent of each other. This process is apparently quite painful for the poot.) Kreeblim was working with Broxholm when he escaped without her. In order to call for help, she uses a cerebral machine on Duncan which stimulates his brain functions. Aside from making him a genius (and a generally nicer person to be around), this allows her to use his mind as a signal receptor to contact her home planet. (My Teacher Fried My Brains).
Peter, Susan and Duncan end up together again with Kreeblim and Broxholm as they decide to join their forces to defend Earth in front of the interplanetary council. In order to do this, they explore Earth to find a proof that Earth is worth saving. (My Teacher Flunked the Planet.)
