First Day on Earth
Praise forFirst Day on Earth:"Castellucci crafts a gloomy and quirky metaphorical piece about being a misfit... [First Day on Earth] is touching and, most importantly, believable within the universe of these characters." —Quill & Quire"A simple, tender work that speaks to the alien in all of us." —Kirkus"The prose is spare but dense, lyrical and strongly emotive, and younger teens will find the story accessible and affecting even as older readers can revel in its emotional complexity and thematic sophistication...Ultimately, it hardly matters whether the aliens are real or metaphorical; it is Mal's earthly journey that will grab readers' hearts." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review