Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too

June 1, 2017

Sun, the playwright and artist famous for the popular @jomnysun Twitter feed, presents the story of an "aliebn" named Jomny who is sent to Earth to study humanity. Jomny instead encounters an array of forest creatures, including an owl with impostor syndrome, a kindly tree, an egg agonizing over what it's destined to hatch into, and a hedgehog with artistic aspirations. Jomny and his new friends discuss death, love, art, depression, insecurity, and more, all with the outsider perspective and naivete (expressed in the character's interactions and observations, as well as the simple illustrative style and unique spelling and syntax) that have gained Sun a huge readership. Impressively sincere, at times insightful, and humorous, many of Sun's observations and conclusions about humanity can also feel aphoristic or platitudinous rather than groundbreaking, as most of what's here boils down to "what makes you different makes you special." VERDICT Sun's fans will welcome his first book with wild enthusiasm, while those not familiar with his online presence might be a little less excited. Still, even the most cynical reader will have a hard time not being somewhat charmed.--TB

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

When my 10-year-old son saw the irresistible drawing on the cover of this book, he grabbed it out of my hands. Page after hilarious and heartbreaking page, my boy’s laughter got louder and more complex. At points, he just stopped and stared at the two-page spread, bewildered by the ingeniously awkward words and images. Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too by artist and comedy writer Jomny Sun is not a children’s book. But when an author’s first novel has prepublication raves from Lin-Manuel Miranda and Joss Whedon, you can be sure it’s going to bust across traditional genres and age categories. Little Jomny is an aliebn left on earbth by his fellow alienbs to find out about humabns. What Jomny doesn’t realize is that everyone he meets is everything but human. He makes friends with a bear, snail, owl and egg, plus an artistic porcupine, all of whom he kindly helps with their various identity crises. Jomny befriends a swarm of philosophical bees, a metamorphosing frog, an otter who fancies himself an auteur (say it twice) and NOTHING. That’s right, NOTHING. Because NOTHING matters. Best of all is Jomny’s best friend, a tree who winds up giving a devastating critique of Shel Silverstein’s famous book, A Giraffe and a Half. When I got through Jomny’s zanily illustrated adventures for the third time (it’s impossible to stop), I knew that I was happier and emotionally richer for understanding so much less about my life than I had before. That’s the beautiful essence of philosophy. It took my son only 20 minutes to finish Aliebn, but he keeps grabbing it every time he sees it. It’s a gripping story and so much fun.