I Was An Alien Fashion Model, by Ivy Hamid

     My human was walking down the hallway at school when a teacher handed him a book that she was just given by her neighbor. Turns out her neighbor had just written this, her first, book, and she wanted one copy to go into the school library. Naturally, my human and I both read it first, even though the title and cover art weren't something that would normally catch our eyes. My human doesn't read - or bring home! - a lot of fantasy books, and a fantasy book with fashion in its title probably didn't make it any more likely that this one would have been read by him (or me) at all...unless someone hands it to you, and says their neighbor wrote it!

    So we read it, and...it was pretty good! Sometimes first books are the best an author will ever do, like they had this brilliant idea that they turned into a wonderful book, and kept writing more books because they had written a successful first one, but they really didn't have anything else to write about. However, sometimes first books are okay, at best, but the author keeps working at their craft, really paying attention to their strengths and weaknesses, and their second and third (and fourth!) books are better and better!

    I Was An Alien Fashion Model is Richmond author Hamid's first book, and although it wasn't amazing, it wasn't a typical first book, either! The story is about a middle school girl named Kat who is not as thin as the other girls on her school volleyball team so is the "butt of every fat joke" - not just of the team but of the entire school! In her attempt to avoid the team photo in her new (but too small) volleyball uniform, Kat walks into an alien theft of clothes from the uniform store, and quickly finds herself on a spaceship! Traveling to another galaxy! Surrounded by...giant spiders? 

    Habib explores our society's definition of beauty, especially as it relates to a persons weight and stature, but in a way that makes the reader think about what we (collectively) as a society find beautiful, and how we miss so much of people wearing such a narrow filter. The book is written for middle school girls, I believe, but Habib does a nice job of creating an alternate universe that is creative and fun, but not often predictable or stale. A book that should be enjoyed by all genders and as young as late elementary school. Again, the title and cover made me predict not really finishing (or liking) the book, but I was wrong, and happy I started  - and finished! - the story!

    I appreciated that Habib's created universe was not predictable but also not impossible to follow. I don't like reading a book when I have to continuously flip to the front few pages to see who's who and what planet or species they belong to. In Kat's new world, there are "aliens" from many planets and galaxies, and I never had trouble knowing who was who. This isn't a life changing book, perhaps, but worth a read, and better than the title and cover let on. I give this a happy 4 paws!