An Alien Stole My Planet is absolutey bursting with personality and fun! The chatty style and imaginative inventions will engage young readers from beginning to end! Allen Fatimaharan’s fabulous illustrations break up the text bringing even more life to the story.
Esha Verma is a genius inventor. More than anything, she wants to win the Young Inventor of the Year competition but her parents have other ideas. After one too many mishaps, they’ve banned her from doing any inventing at all. Esha won’t let that stop her. When an alien called Goospa appears after Esha makes a rather big mistake, she realises she might be in the biggest trouble of her life. It is literally the end of the world and Esha has to save it.
I’m thrilled to welcome author Pooja Puri to Scope for Imagination with a fascinating guest post:
The Genius World of Esha Verma: Inventor Extraordinaire
Inventing is AWESOME.
Imagine creating something out of NOTHING. Imagine lots of people using that something because it’s so ULTRA BRILLIANT. Imagine your invention CHANGING THE ENTIRE WORLD. How cool is that?
If I were a genius inventor extraordinaire, I would probably invent a machine that could teleport me anywhere around the world. Or perhaps some extra springy shoes that would allow me to bounce to the moon…
In An Alien Stole My Planet, Esha Verma, genius inventor extraordinaire has yet again built some eye-poppingly amazing inventions (with a little help from her trusty apprentice, Broccoli). Prepare yourself, dear Reader. You are about to discover some SUPER-DUPER exciting insider information about Esha’s inventions (with her permission, of course) from her new adventure. They’re some of her best yet…
The Inviz-Whiz
Sadly, I cannot reveal the design of the Inviz-Whiz as that has to remain TOP SECRET (Esha’s orders). What I can tell you is that the Inviz-Whiz is designed to turn the user invisible. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work quite as Esha hopes; instead of turning her invisible, the Inviz-Whiz does, in fact, open an inter-galactic portal in her shed! Even more unfortunately, this allows an alien called Goospa to arrive on Earth. To make matters even worse, Goospa has an EVIL plan up his slimy sleeves…one that involves Earthly blueberries and the teleportation of Earth. Before Esha, Broccoli and Bean (Broccoli’s annoying cousin) can stop him, they find themselves stranded on Planet 403, one of the deadliest planets in the whole wide galaxy, with no way back…
Boomers
The Boomers are one of Esha’s handiest inventions. Pull a string to activate them and they will generate some of the LOUDEST, EAR-POPPING noise you’ll ever hear. This invention is excellent when you need a distraction – especially from pesky, nose-poking parents. It is not so excellent when you are trying to lay low and hide from carnivorous, otherworldly creatures called Ice Bats. The less said about that the better.
Caramelizer Lollies
Absolutely NOT designed for eating, Caramelizer Lollies might look like an ordinary lollipop, but they are capable of so much more. Remove the lollipop safety stick and wait five seconds. The solid caramel sphere will explode and form a beautiful bubble of luminous caramel chewiness.
(Top Tip: It is recommended that you throw the caramel sphere as far away from you as possible before it activates to stop yourself being trapped in a sticky bubble of sweetness).
(Top Tip 2: These lollies are surprisingly effectively at stopping Ice Bats).
Glo-Pro
The ultimate light-illuminating device, the Glo-Pro is an indispensable invention in the darkest of situations…or, at least, it would be if Esha and Broccoli could work out how to stop it powering down! Another important point to note about the Glo-Pro is that it should, AT ALL TIMES, be kept away from Broccoli’s Orange Marmalade Spray. Unless, of course, you’re being chased by a deadly alien creature called a vilter. In which case, this explosive combination may just save your life…
Ultra-Umbrella
When Esha’s boring big sister, Nishi, bets that Esha can’t make an all-weather umbrella, Esha has no choice but to prove her wrong. The Ultra-Umbrella is a whizzy weather gadget – foldable, portable, height-adjustable, and, most importantly, built with rapid rotary motion that could help you fly out of a lava marsh before you’re quozzled!
The Anomalizer
Esha has given me strict instructions that I am not allowed to tell you anything about The Anomalizer. To find out more about that particular invention, you will have to read the book (sorry).
A Final Note on Inventing
So, dear Reader, I hope that this sneak preview into Esha’s genius world will have inspired you to read her latest adventure and, of course, have a go at some inventing of your own! As Esha discovers in this book, inventing is not about being the cleverest or smartest. It’s all about using the ordinary to make something EXTRAORDINARY. Everyone is an inventor, really. All you need is a brain-spark, a bit of hard work, a little help from your apprentice, and away you go. And maybe, just maybe, your invention will change the world…
About the Author
Pooja Puri is an expert daydreamer inventor of stories. Her debut novel The Jungle was published by Black & White’s YA imprint, Ink Road, in 2017. The Jungle was subsequently nominated for the 2018 CILIP Carnegie Medal. Her first middle-grade novel, A Dinosaur Ate My Sister, was published in 2021 and was the first book selected for the Marcus Rashford Book Club. The sequel, A Robot Squashed My Teacher, was published in 2022. An Alien Stole My Planet is the third in the series. She tweets @PoojaPuriWrites.
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