Friend or UFO (The Area 51 Files)

Sky and her friends tackle their biggest mystery yet—the discovery of Area 52!—in the third installment of this laugh-out-loud, highly illustrated middle grade series by New York Times bestselling author Julie Buxbaum, illustrated by Lavanya Naidu.

Sky’s life in Area 51 is full of surprises. Like the fact that aliens are real—and now one is her best friend! But the biggest surprise yet comes when Sky learns that her grandmother has been kidnapped and is stuck in Area 52, the only other alien portal on Earth. Even more bananas? Her grandma has been an undercover FBAI agent for YEARS. Like Sky’s whole entire life. How could Sky not have known her grandma had a secret identity?

Uncle Anish says to leave this whole mess to him. For reals this time. The kids just have to hang tight. Spoiler alert: The kids do not, and will never, hang tight.

There’s just one problem: No one knows the location of Area 52. In order to solve this mystery and save Sky’s grandma, Sky and her friends will have to solve a series of secret puzzles and codes, traverse the Area 51 library for clues, break into FBAI headquarters, and more. But someone doesn’t want Sky to solve this mystery, and they’ve got their eyes on her…

JULIE BUXBAUM is the New York Times bestselling author of the young adult novels Tell Me Three Things, What to Say Next, Hope and Other Punch Lines, and Admission. She also wrote the critically acclaimed The Opposite of Love and After You. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. She frequently has UFOs (Unidentified Food Objects) all over her shirt.

LAVANYA NAIDU is a children’s book illustrator and animator, born and raised in Kolkata. A graduate of the National Institute of Design, she has worked on numerous children’s books as well as animation projects. She currently lives in Melbourne and recently completed her role as the head of design on the animated kids series The Strange Chores (season 2) at 12field Animation. In her spare time, Lavanya enjoys collecting dinosaur models and befriending dogs.