Otto from Otherwhere

A ten-year-old alien boy travels through an interdimensional doorway to enter the lives of fifth grader Paula and her boisterous family for a year

The premise of this science fantasy is sound, and the plot moves quickly. While bringing home the sheep, ten-year-old Ahto becomes lost in the mist and stumbles into another world, where Paula and her younger brother Peter are riding their bikes through the fog to school. Paula takes Ahto to school, saying that he's her cousin Otto from Brazil to explain why he can't speak English. Even so, some people assume he's stupid, and others are repulsed by his looks, and he yearns to return to his own peaceful world in which music and song abound. Otto's world is convincingly sketched, and readers learn more about it as he reacts to his new surroundings. The shifts in viewpoint between Otto and Paula give a more complete picture of the action. Paula's fierce protectiveness of Otto will win readers over, even though she is not always likable; Otto commands affection for his gentle nature and the way he speaks up to larger antagonists despite his fear. The prejudice and misconceptions of both adults and children test Paula's friendships and hinder Otto's, but readers are not beaten over the head with the theme of accepting others for what they are and not what they look like. At the satisfying end, both Otto and the human children have increased the boundaries of their worlds. --Annette Curtis Klause, Montgomery County Department of Public Libraries, MD
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Lost in the fog, the alien Ahto slips through a rift between worlds and lands in a suburb of San Antonio, Tex. With his flat nose and ears, strange garb and four-fingered hands marked with ritual tattoos, Ahto is an unusual sight on the local streets. Fortunately, the first people he meets are Paula and her younger brother Peter. Determined to care for the helpless alien, Paula takes him to school, claiming that "Otto"--as he is nicknamed--is her cousin from Brazil. At home, Paula convinces her mother and grandmother to keep Otto; so begins his year-long stay, during which he grows accustomed to earthling ways, while attempting to return to his own world. Readers requiring plenty of action will have to look elsewhere, but this novel will find an audience among those who can appreciate its fresh perspective on the peculiarities of American life and its exploration of the practical side of caring for a stray alien. Ages 9-12.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.