Scan barcode
librarydosebykristy's review against another edition
4.0
After settling in for a long and boring summer, Gabe is suddenly approached by a shapeless purple creature who can speak in his mother's voice. The purple blob turns out to be an envoy from outerspace, an alien, who has chosen Gabe to the Ambassador for Earth to other galaxies and lifeforms. At the same time, Gabe's father gets arrested and deported for being an illegal immigrant from Mexico. Finding his balance between the tumult and changes at home and his new, otherwordly responsibilities (which come with a lot of danger), Gabe struggles to survive the craziest summer of his life.
A super unusual plot with wonderful writing.
A super unusual plot with wonderful writing.
brandypainter's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed Ambassador for the most part. It is an intriguing concept. A young boy is chosen to be Earth's ambassador in intergalactic affairs by a mysterious envoy. Gabe is chosen because he watches others carefully, knows how to diffuse tense situations, and is diplomatic in his interactions. At the same time Gabe is dealing with the mysterious ships that have entered the galaxy, he is also having to worry about the imminent deportation of his parents and older sister. I thought the clever way Alexander dealt with the themes of modern day immigration and melded them with science-fiction elements was genius. I adored this book until the end which is abrupt to say the least. I'm sure there will be a sequel, but there is a difference between leaving things unanswered for a sequel and leaving almost everything dangling with no resolution. I am throughly sick of the latter.
thebooknerdscorner's review against another edition
3.0
A really fun middle grade read that expertly ties science fiction and everyday life together in a balanced blend that is exciting to read!
"Ambassador" follows eleven-year-old Gabe as and his Mexican American family. It's a normal summer day for Gabe when all of a sudden a mysterious alien creature called the Envoy disturbs his everyday life. He learns that Earth is in need of an ambassador to negotiate peace with adjacent planets and neighboring lifeforms. But some of his alien neighbors are less than friendly. After only a few days as Terra's ambassador, Gabe finds himself on the dangerous end of an assassination plot, which puts his negotiation skills to the test.
I had my ups and downs when reading this book, but it is relatively short, making it a fun read the whole way through. One of the best parts of this story for me was the parallels between aliens from other planets and illegal aliens to the United States. Much of this story focuses around Gabe's family's status as citizens and I feel the parallels between Gabe's family life and his ambassador life are well balanced. Also, this book plain out shocked me a couple times with things I was not expecting at all, which was a nice surprise. Another thing that I want to point out is that "Ambassador" takes place in my home state of Minnesota, which made me feel that much more connected to the story. Finally, I love how much Gabe mention Zorro! Every time that I think back to the old black and white show featuring Zorro, I can't help but crack up. The fact that Gabe kept bringing him up kept me smiling the whole book through.
My biggest critique on this one has to be the ending. The book doesn't exactly end off on a cliffhanger it just kind of. . . ends. It ends with a statement and when I read it I was like, "Oh, I guess it's over." I have the sequel, so it's not that big of a deal, it just had one of the most sudden endings I've ever read.
Overall, "Ambassador" was a short read that I enjoyed quite a bit. If you like stories about aliens, then Gabe's tale is sure to show you a fresh take on the alien invasion trope!
"Ambassador" follows eleven-year-old Gabe as and his Mexican American family. It's a normal summer day for Gabe when all of a sudden a mysterious alien creature called the Envoy disturbs his everyday life. He learns that Earth is in need of an ambassador to negotiate peace with adjacent planets and neighboring lifeforms. But some of his alien neighbors are less than friendly. After only a few days as Terra's ambassador, Gabe finds himself on the dangerous end of an assassination plot, which puts his negotiation skills to the test.
I had my ups and downs when reading this book, but it is relatively short, making it a fun read the whole way through. One of the best parts of this story for me was the parallels between aliens from other planets and illegal aliens to the United States. Much of this story focuses around Gabe's family's status as citizens and I feel the parallels between Gabe's family life and his ambassador life are well balanced. Also, this book plain out shocked me a couple times with things I was not expecting at all, which was a nice surprise. Another thing that I want to point out is that "Ambassador" takes place in my home state of Minnesota, which made me feel that much more connected to the story. Finally, I love how much Gabe mention Zorro! Every time that I think back to the old black and white show featuring Zorro, I can't help but crack up. The fact that Gabe kept bringing him up kept me smiling the whole book through.
My biggest critique on this one has to be the ending. The book doesn't exactly end off on a cliffhanger it just kind of. . . ends. It ends with a statement and when I read it I was like, "Oh, I guess it's over." I have the sequel, so it's not that big of a deal, it just had one of the most sudden endings I've ever read.
Overall, "Ambassador" was a short read that I enjoyed quite a bit. If you like stories about aliens, then Gabe's tale is sure to show you a fresh take on the alien invasion trope!
rosiereads613's review
4.0
Enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. Wish it didn't end on a bit of a cliffhanger though
yapha's review against another edition
5.0
Gabe Fuentes has been chosen to be Earth's ambassador to an intergalactic council. It is made up of children, because they find it easier to accept beings and situations that are different from the norm. There is a sense of urgency however, since unfamiliar spacecraft have been spotted in the asteroid belt between Mars & Jupiter, and diplomacy is necessary to figure out who is there and why. There is urgency at home, too, since both of Gabe's parents are in the United States illegally. This is a phenomenal book with spectacular parallels between both kinds of aliens, in addition to being an action-packed adventure. Highly recommended to grades 4-8.
stenaros's review
3.0
Read for librarian book group
Yeah, so this was an excellent half of a book. I was all in for the whole thing, which is only part of the story. My number one rule of writing a series? Each book must stand on its own, with the successor being a nice surprise. You can't just leave major plot lines dangling and call it good.
When he publishes the rest of the story, I will be interested to see how our main character balances being the Earth's ambassador to the universe's diplomatic corps and see what happens with his mother and father and their impending deportation for being illegal aliens.
Get it? Aliens/Aliens? Very clever, that Mr. Alexander. If only he had finished his book.
Yeah, so this was an excellent half of a book. I was all in for the whole thing, which is only part of the story. My number one rule of writing a series? Each book must stand on its own, with the successor being a nice surprise. You can't just leave major plot lines dangling and call it good.
When he publishes the rest of the story, I will be interested to see how our main character balances being the Earth's ambassador to the universe's diplomatic corps and see what happens with his mother and father and their impending deportation for being illegal aliens.
Get it? Aliens/Aliens? Very clever, that Mr. Alexander. If only he had finished his book.
the_fabric_of_words's review
5.0
We discovered William Alexander's fantasy middle grade work, his medieval faire-setting A Festival of Ghosts and A Properly Unhaunted Place, a few years ago and read and reviewed them for my annual December, Review-a-Day Countdown to the Holiday.
I'd been meaning to read more of his middle grade books (there are a bunch!) and came across this sci-fi duology. I passed them along to my teen son, who also loved them.
They really do read like one book that got broken into two for middle-grade reader expectations of length. The first is 222 pages, and clearly ends unresolved. In fact, by the end, it feels like it's just getting started. While the second book is a bit longer, 264 pages, and wraps up everything started in book one. I'd recommend reading one right after the other with no pause between them.
Eleven-year-old Gabe Fuentes starts the summer before 6th grade on the neighborhood park playground, watching his younger siblings, and learns his best friend, Frankie, won't be able to spend it with him. Earlier, the boys set off a "rocket" made from a metal pipe, instead of cardboard (can anyone say pipe-bomb?), and after the damage, which Gabe took the blame for, Frankie's mom is shipping him off to his father's house in Califas.
At the same time, "The Envoy," a sort of purple blob that had been hanging out on an abandoned USSR-era clandestine moon base, has built a genuine rocket and launched itself back to Earth to select another Ambassador to speak for Terra, Earth.
It lands in the park lake and spots Gabe, choosing him to be the next Ambassador. When it shows itself to Gabe, he takes the news equanimously, listening to its explanation why it chose a child to be its plenipotentiary for Earth with a marked lack of panic or disbelief.
According to the Envoy, which speaks in Gabe's mother's voice, "Adults of most species find it more difficult to communicate with anyone outside their arbitrary circle -- or even recognize that anybody exists outside it. So ambassadors are always young. Always."
The Envoy has repurposed the duplex owner's washing machine to properly "entangle" Gabe's being and get him, while he dreams, to the Chancery, where ambassadors of all the existing species hang out and "play" and negotiate.
The Envoy spotted a fleet of ships in our solar system's asteroid belt, and Gabe has to go to the Chancery and figure out who may be stealing water from us (humans).
It's not long before someone tries to kill him, sucking the entanglement device (the repurposed washing machine) and the basement and first floor of the duplex through a black hole. At the same time, Gabe's father runs a stop sign. Or, at least the patrol officer who stops him claims he ran a stop sign, and once Gabe's dad admits he has no "papers" to be in the US legally, he's carted off to an ICE detention facility. Along with his mother. He learns his older sister, Lupe, was also not born in the US.
While both his parents are from Mexico, originally, Gabe's mother came legally on a visa while his father got caught trying to enter when he was very young and was deported, which means Gabe's dad will be shipped back to Mexico immediately, while his mother is given a hearing.
But there's another twist: Frankie's house used to be a stop on the Underground Railroad. The Fuentes family's evacuation plan is to hide out there, in case of detection.
Gabe figures he can't hide out with his family in his best-friend's hideaway because someone's trying to kill him...and when he slips out, and a laser fires in the exact spot where he'd just been standing, he knows leaving is the only safe thing to do.
With the Envoy's help, and some very clever reasoning on his part, he'll physically out-run the assassins' attempts to kill him while walking a fine-line between our nearest galactic neighbors and a species known for its desire to exterminate all life in the galaxy, called the Outlast.
It's a great read, and in some ways is a very typical middle grade book. There's a scene when Gabe has to pee in space, zero-gravity, that had all of us laughing and kinda grossed-out at the same time.
A fun way to start your summer reading!
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
I'd been meaning to read more of his middle grade books (there are a bunch!) and came across this sci-fi duology. I passed them along to my teen son, who also loved them.
They really do read like one book that got broken into two for middle-grade reader expectations of length. The first is 222 pages, and clearly ends unresolved. In fact, by the end, it feels like it's just getting started. While the second book is a bit longer, 264 pages, and wraps up everything started in book one. I'd recommend reading one right after the other with no pause between them.
Eleven-year-old Gabe Fuentes starts the summer before 6th grade on the neighborhood park playground, watching his younger siblings, and learns his best friend, Frankie, won't be able to spend it with him. Earlier, the boys set off a "rocket" made from a metal pipe, instead of cardboard (can anyone say pipe-bomb?), and after the damage, which Gabe took the blame for, Frankie's mom is shipping him off to his father's house in Califas.
At the same time, "The Envoy," a sort of purple blob that had been hanging out on an abandoned USSR-era clandestine moon base, has built a genuine rocket and launched itself back to Earth to select another Ambassador to speak for Terra, Earth.
It lands in the park lake and spots Gabe, choosing him to be the next Ambassador. When it shows itself to Gabe, he takes the news equanimously, listening to its explanation why it chose a child to be its plenipotentiary for Earth with a marked lack of panic or disbelief.
According to the Envoy, which speaks in Gabe's mother's voice, "Adults of most species find it more difficult to communicate with anyone outside their arbitrary circle -- or even recognize that anybody exists outside it. So ambassadors are always young. Always."
The Envoy has repurposed the duplex owner's washing machine to properly "entangle" Gabe's being and get him, while he dreams, to the Chancery, where ambassadors of all the existing species hang out and "play" and negotiate.
The Envoy spotted a fleet of ships in our solar system's asteroid belt, and Gabe has to go to the Chancery and figure out who may be stealing water from us (humans).
It's not long before someone tries to kill him, sucking the entanglement device (the repurposed washing machine) and the basement and first floor of the duplex through a black hole. At the same time, Gabe's father runs a stop sign. Or, at least the patrol officer who stops him claims he ran a stop sign, and once Gabe's dad admits he has no "papers" to be in the US legally, he's carted off to an ICE detention facility. Along with his mother. He learns his older sister, Lupe, was also not born in the US.
While both his parents are from Mexico, originally, Gabe's mother came legally on a visa while his father got caught trying to enter when he was very young and was deported, which means Gabe's dad will be shipped back to Mexico immediately, while his mother is given a hearing.
But there's another twist: Frankie's house used to be a stop on the Underground Railroad. The Fuentes family's evacuation plan is to hide out there, in case of detection.
Gabe figures he can't hide out with his family in his best-friend's hideaway because someone's trying to kill him...and when he slips out, and a laser fires in the exact spot where he'd just been standing, he knows leaving is the only safe thing to do.
With the Envoy's help, and some very clever reasoning on his part, he'll physically out-run the assassins' attempts to kill him while walking a fine-line between our nearest galactic neighbors and a species known for its desire to exterminate all life in the galaxy, called the Outlast.
It's a great read, and in some ways is a very typical middle grade book. There's a scene when Gabe has to pee in space, zero-gravity, that had all of us laughing and kinda grossed-out at the same time.
A fun way to start your summer reading!
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
librarydosebykristy's review against another edition
4.0
After settling in for a long and boring summer, Gabe is suddenly approached by a shapeless purple creature who can speak in his mother's voice. The purple blob turns out to be an envoy from outerspace, an alien, who has chosen Gabe to the Ambassador for Earth to other galaxies and lifeforms. At the same time, Gabe's father gets arrested and deported for being an illegal immigrant from Mexico. Finding his balance between the tumult and changes at home and his new, otherwordly responsibilities (which come with a lot of danger), Gabe struggles to survive the craziest summer of his life.
A super unusual plot with wonderful writing.
A super unusual plot with wonderful writing.