Stuck on Earth by David Klass is about Ketchvar III doing reconnaissance work in the body of a teenage boy. His goal — decide if Earth should be annihilated. Ketchvar is a snail shaped and sized creature, small enough to slip into the head of Tom Filber.

Tom's isn't exactly happy. There's a lot of home stress — enough so that those who know Tom begin to suspect he's cracking under the pressure. Interestingly, Ketchvar begins to believe this story too.

Ketchvar, though, gets caught up in Tom's life and like Marc Chang of Fairly OddParents, grows to love Earth for all its dysfunction. For this reason, I imaged Chang's booming somewhat surfer dude voice as Ketchvar's.

I found the book a light and enjoyable read. There were a few moments that made me think — Tom's inner dialog with Ketchvar as a stand in for mental illness, and the environmental questions — is the world better off with or without mankind. ( )

Some kids will like this. I didn't. ( )

when a common snail inhabits the body of a nerdy fourteen-year-old we are all treated to an alternate view of teenage life on this planet ( )

Picked this up as an ARC from ALA.

I've only read one other of Klass's books--You Don't Know Me, which hits a lot of the same notes of family dysfunction. Unfortunately, the device wrapped around it here (that an alien has taken over a 14-year-old boy to see if the human race is worth saving) doesn't work as well. There's not much subtlety; messages about bullying and environmentalism are delivered with heavy-handed didacticism, couched in the guise of an impartial observer. Middle-schoolers might appreciate this, and it's a perfectly serviceable read to while away an afternoon, but Klass has done better. ( )

An alien, Ketchvar III, is charged by the Galatic Federation, with the task of inhabiting the brain of a 14 year old Tom Filber in order to determine the fate of the entire human species on behalf of the Lugonians, a race needing a planet because their sun is going supernova shortly. Ketchvar must determine whether it would be acceptable to take over Earth and kill all the humans, who currently are not well regarded among the Federation. They beam the boy aboard the spacecraft, and Ketchvar tries to prepare Tom for what is about to happen.
"It won't hurt," I promise him."It will all be over in a second."
"What won't hurt? What are you going to do?"
"Nothing terrible, so try to stay calm," I assure him climbing up his leg. "I'm just going to slither through your nostril, crawl into your cranium, and take possession of your brain."

Initially, I thought this was a great book for those looking for humor, because it starts off with some very funny scenes, but it quickly becomes more serious since Tom lives in a dysfunctional family, with a father who is out of work, and who drinks to drown his sorrows, a bitter mom and a mean sister. Tom has a crush on the girl who lives next door, Michelle Peabody, but she isn't really interested in him initially. Tom is a target for bullies and Michelle really thinks he needs to stick up for himself. Ketchvar quickly comes to the conclusion that humans are cruel and miserable. Thankfully, he later encounters some humans who change his opinion. Stuck on Earth takes a thought provoking look at humanity. It also contains an important environmental message. Since it's a pretty fast read, it would be appreciated by an average male reader, who is intelligent enough to appreciate the humor and sensitive enough to empathize with Tom's situation. ( )