Funny Kid Prank Aliens

Matt Stanton

ABC Books, 2021

288pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

9780733340611

Max is back in the 9th in this series that has become the favourite of so many young independent readers, especially boys.

Bored as during the school holidays despite the Mayor having organised a fun fair to entertain them, yet not wanting to join in the Clean Up Redhill movement Max decides that it would be much better to prank the people in the toilet queue at the un_Funfair. And because that is successful he dreams bigger and better, answering the Mayor’s call to “put Redhill on the map” by trying to convince the residents that aliens have invaded.

And one thing leads to another….

Stanton is very much in tune with what kids in those middle years like to read about, particularly characters that they can relate to and secretly wish to be.  The place that the edgy humour of Jennings, Gleitzman and Milne played in their parents’ childhood is now being filled by him with great success, demonstrating that good stories with lots of humour and over-the-top situations are always winners, particularly if they have a slightly serious side that anchors them in reality and adds depth to the story.

He now has his own YouTube channel that features lots about his writing and drawing, including this intro to Prank Aliens with the promise of much more to come including a sequel to The Odds. 

Young, independent readers will be rapt.