The aliens have an important reason for visiting earth. They have noticed the way humans are treating the planet. Who will they tell? Will anyone listen? Is the end of the world coming? How can three nerds possibly help?
This is a story told in two halves. Part One is entitled Broccoli and Part Two is Chocolate mud cake with a possible dollop of icecream. I was certain for about half the book that all this talk of aliens was just someone playing a trick on Mo because the answer to my first question posed here about communication - well, the answer is via fridge magnets! Yes you did read that correctly - fridge magnets. Mo finds messages on his fridge and he is sure the messages are from aliens who are coming to our earth. I need to say our earth because these aliens also use the term earth when referring to their own home planet - confusing yes.
Mo has a date for the arrival of the aliens and we know this right from the first page so you and your young reading companion, or class or you as a reader of course, are sure to anticipate that this book will follow a countdown.
"The World will end at ten thirty-six in the morning, on the fourteenth of March this year."
Mo just has to convince his friends Aitch (Harrison Harrison - yes it is a great name) and Ally (do NOT call her Alison. She is a book worm and can be quite touchy) that the aliens are really coming and that they, three kids from Earth are the ones the aliens want to talk to - yes that is wild. (and I have put a hint about why they want to come in the labels for this post).
Ally explains this to Aitch: "Mo believes aliens are on their way ... You think he's crazy and make fun of him, even though this is stuff he obviously understands. It's like an obsession with him. You know nothing about the subject and he's an expert, so how about you get excited for him, rather than making him feel small"
Interspersed through this book are asides and commentary from Aitch himself - these are so funny. That is why I added the label to this post "Breaking the Fourth Wall".
Here is an example:
"I said I'd done some research on how to write a book? Well, it seems a story about aliens might be fun for kids, but a book about being supportive of your mates will definitely thrill teachers and librarians. It's not just similes and metaphors that rock their boats, but also uplifting stories about being nice to each other. So I reckon I've got a couple of bases covered here. Entertaining with a moral. Buy lots of class sets. Just a suggestion."
I think this book could one to read aloud to your Grade 4 or 5 class, but I do need to give a small content warning - there are a few mild swear words so I strongly recommend reading this book yourself first - it won't take long. I read the whole book in just over an hour one afternoon a few weeks ago. Here are a few examples in case you think I am 'making this up'. "rat's bumhole"; "bugger all"; "scare the hell out of you"; and "damn".
I am not sure if this is important, but the aliens have been studying us using the television show Home and Away. I think kids in Australia will know about this and also kids in the UK but I am not so sure about kids in the US - perhaps that isn't important - this is my attempt at an aside similar to the ones Aitch uses when he is telling this story. Oh and the aliens are big fans of Taylor Swift too! And they know about Bluey and KMart.
More plot details here What Book Next? Listen to Barry Jonsberg reading the first chapter of his book with the Your Kids Next Read team.
A wild ride that's full of laughs ... Readings Melbourne
Thanks to Gleebooks kids for sharing the advance copy of Nerds vs Aliens which was published on 31st March 2026.
The cheeky tone and Science Fiction themes and laugh out loud moments of Nerds vs Aliens made me think of this book which sadly is long out of print (note to any publisher reading this please bring this book back for kids to read today - it is so fantastic);
I previously talked about these books by Barry Jonsberg:
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