A fun story in which class bully Duncan discovers maybe he doesn't want to be the class bully anymore, while also struggling to prove that the aliens are still in town and up to shenanigans! ( )

This was neat! I do not emapthize with any bully, no matter how hard any author tries to make me. The book did a good job establishing it was part of a series, which I'm not too interested in reading. Poot was my favorite part! Bruce Coville is a talented author.. ( )

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Last year, Duncan Dougal was a minor player in his sixth grade class's struggle to save their town from the alien who was masquerading as a teacher at their school. Now he's in seventh grade, hoping to turn over a new leaf and be a better, or at least less troublesome, student in his junior high, with new teachers.

Unfortunately, he's really not good at this whole "get to class on time, don't provoke the teachers, and do the assignments," thing.

Also, there's an alien teacher at the junior high, too. And since Duncan creates conflict with everyone, he's on his own in dealing with a problem everyone else wants to believe is over.

Duncan is a nicer kid than he wants to think he is, and his best efforts can't keep him from being really taken with his alien teacher's alien, slug-like pet. He also can't stop himself from doing the right thing when it's up to him to save the world.

It's a fun, and funny, sf adventure for younger readers.

It was originally published in 1991, so the tech is only slightly more advanced than when I was in junior high, but that doesn't slow things down.

Recommended.

I bought this audiobook. ( )

This chapter book is the second installment in the "My Teacher is An Alien" series and it is written from the perspective of Duncan, the school bully, who was the main antagonist in the first book for our heroes; Peter and his best friend Susan. So fittingly, the central message to this story is about the road to redemption for Duncan Dougal as he tries to make nice with his classmates at the start of a new school year in the seventh grade. As we learn more about Duncan we begin to understand more about why he is the way he is and we find out that his bad behavior and acting out in school is mostly due to his poor family life at home and the constant bullying he undergoes from his own older brother; Patrick Dougal.
But after finding Mr. Smith was actually an Alien Teacher last year and seeing Peter( the shy and nerdy kid) take him down in front of the entire school, Duncan witnessed both Peter and Susan gain immense fame and popularity around school from it and he longingly decided at that moment last year that he had wanted to be just like them; and not known as the "bully" any longer. So this year, he tries several different attempts to be kinder to his classmates, stop beating up kids after school, and simply not responding back when he has nothing good to say to others. At first, his attempts to improve his reputation go unnoticed and he begins to realize just how hard it is for someone to see you in a different light, when you've been known for something else for so long. However he does not give up, and continues try to be nicer to his peers and not get into trouble. Eventually, and with much persistence, Duncan is able to finally befriend several students-including Susan- who he is used to bully the most and together they try and take down the new Alien Teacher of the year, Miss Karpou. ( )