I am Number Four". This introduction on the cover really piqued my interest, and was a major factor in my choosing this book. It even offset the dislike I have for "narrator names" instead of giving the true authors. Four is a teenager who has had to leave every place he has ever lived because he is being hunted by aliens who are out to kill him. He's not being paranoid, for he is an alien too and he's next on the evil aliens' hit list.
With his adoptive father and mentor, John Smith (as he calls himself this time around, and he may as well wear an "I am here" tee-shirt) settles down yet again, in yet another small town. But this time things are different. He is finally developing the superpowers his people are known for. He falls in love. He befriends a geeky conspiracy theorist kid. He adopts an odd stray dog. He gets on the wrong side of the school bully, who just happens to be the school's star player, principal's pet and ex-boyfriend of his new girlfriend. That's right, John Smith has moved to Clichetown USA.
I may sound like I'm being sarcastic, but despite having one dimensional baddies and a story that for the most part goes exactly where you know it will, this is actually a very enjoyable book. Don't look at me like that - I don't know why something so predictable and derivative kept me turning the pages, but there you have it. It's written with such enthusiasm and aplomb that none of the above actually mattered to me. Would I read the sequel though? No.
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