A startling, wonderful novel about the true meaning of being an alien in an equally alien world.
"We are specks. Pieces of dust in this universe. Big nothings."
"I know what I am."
Mal lives on the fringes of high school. Angry. Misunderstood. Yet loving the world -- or, at least, an idea of the world.
Then he meets Hooper. Who says he's from another planet. And may be going home very soon.

Cecil Castellucci grew up in New York City and is the author of such young adult novels as Rose Sees Red, Boy Proof, and The Year of the Beast, as well as the comic books The Plain Janes, Janes in Love, and Shade: The Changing Girl. Currently, Cecil Castellucci lives in Los Angeles. You can learn more about her at misscecil.com.

Cecil Castellucci's profile page

• Short-listed, OLA White Pine Award, Fiction
• Commended, Best Books for Kids and Teens, Canadian Children's Book Centre

Praise for First 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