Core memory unlocked
Did this series have an alien pet that was a Jelly/Blob named a "Poot"?
Yes! Though I think it was the name of a species, not the name of an individual one. But they called all the individuals "Poot". Kindof like they call all Pikachus "Pikachu."
There was one scene where this alien lady put a poot in a Tupperware container (apparently they don't need air?) and pressed down on the middle to push the last of the air out as one does and the noise it made was a "poot" sound.
I also recall one kid receiving a pet poot. One of the aliens just ripped a poot in half to get two poots and handed one over.
Damn. For how little I've thought of that series since reading it as a kid, I'm amazed at how much of it still lives rent-free in my head.
The URAT was a kind of pocket Wikipedia. There was one scene where a character was a brain in a jar for a bit before being reassembled. So many great stories.
And I'm 100% sure if I reread it now, I'd regret it.
Edit: Huh. Looks like they released new editions with different cover art that suuuuuuucks.
I remember a scene where a Poot mimicked the face of the main character! I remember thinking the poots sounded cute as hell! And yes, those new cover art are awful!
IIRC in the last book it was revealed that the poots were all psychically linked or something, and apparently humans were similar, except our physical separation caused some sort of generational trauma and is the reason humans are so fucked up.
I don't know if i'll get the chance to talk about Bruce Coville again anytime soon, but I wanna share that he had one of the most evil ideas for the end of the world in another series.
I forget the series title but the MC was named Rodney, the antagonist was an evil psychopath kid named Billy, and Billy wanted to end the world by somehow trapping it in the orbit of a black hole, so that as the Earth traveled closer and closer to the middle, that time would eventually freeze in place for everyone forever. For some reason it has always stuck with me as a gold standard for "crazy supervillain ideas for ending the world/humanity" and it's something I compare all fictional villains' evil plans against. Lol.
Edit: Aliens Ate My Homework
Man, I've never had so much nostalgia for a series I remember so little of.
Is that author also a voice actor at full cast audio? The name sounds familiar. I definitely remember this book from when I was a kid!
Nostalgia
nostalgia noun nos·tal·gia nä-ˈstal-jə nə-, also nȯ-, nō-; nə-ˈstäl- 1: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition also : something that evokes nostalgia
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