Once again I must admit that the cover of this book, the original cover anyway, caught my attention. And I figured, oh, I'll read it later. Then, I saw a movie preview for it, and though, yeah, I'd better read this at some time. But still, didn't pick it up. Then a few months ago, I read some Twitter buzz that this is published by James Frey, the guy of A Million Little Pieces and dealing with Oprah fame, and that there was some controversy with his publishing policies. And again, another reason to read, but still, didn't check it out at the store yet. Well, one of my best friends, Kim, who is my movie and reading buddy, told me she had read it, and really liked it. So, having the Nook checked out, I decided to go ahead and read it. And, you know what, it was really good.
It is about a race of aliens from the planet Lorien who have sent 9 subjects to Earth to wait for the day they can go back and repopulate their planet. Their planet was conquered by a race called the Modagorians (although whenever I say it in my head the d and g get mixed up), who are still looking to find and kill these last survivors on Earth. The 9 children must be killed in order. If the Modagorians find #8, but all the others are still alive, whatever they try to do to hurt #8 will go back and hurt the alien who tried to hurt them. These children have been spread all over Earth with a guardian, an elder Lorien who is not as important. These children will develop legacies, or powers, that can be used to go back and defeat the Modagorians. Anyway, our main character's name is, well the name he chooses when they go to a new town because Number 3 has died, his name is John Smith. His father/guardian is named Henri. And yes, pronounce it with a French accent, because supposedly the Lorien accent sounds similar to a French one.
John has had to move constantly. He has to be careful because he is stronger and faster than humans, and letting any news of this get out could lead to the enemy finding him and killing him. They move to Paradise, Ohio, and here, John falls in love and finds a good friend. He wants to stay, even though things happen that lead to him possibly being found. He begins to develop his legacies, and yes, soon, they are found due to an unfortunate newspaper blog article showing video of him doing something impossible. The book ends with I think Number 6 showing up to help in this fight. We also learn that there may have been a reason they went to Paradise, Ohio, other than just picking it by random. And one of my favorite characters in the book, John's dog, Bernie Kosar, is more than what you think.
Now, there has to be a sequel, it left off that way. And there is a movie coming out soon, so you should go see the movie, but not till after you read the book of course.
And my last thought, the author's name is Pittacus Lore. And supposedly this is the name of one of the aliens. So it would be interesting to know if this is the real author's name, or who the real author is, now that there is this controversy that I heard on Twitter. You can go to the website about the book to read more. And I'll try to post a video of the I Am Number Four Official Trailer as soon as I figure out how to do that! :-)
