The Spaceship Next Door

The Spaceship Next Door by Gene Doucette   353 pages

"Three years ago, a spaceship landed in an open field in the quiet mill town of Sorrow Falls, Massachusetts. It never opened its doors, and for all that time, the townspeople have wondered why the ship landed there, and what—or who—could be inside.  Then one day a government operative—posing as a journalist—arrives in town, asking questions. He discovers sixteen-year-old Annie Collins, one of the ship’s closest neighbors and a local fixture known throughout the town, who has some of the answers.  As a matter of fact, Annie Collins might be the most important person on the planet. She just doesn’t know it."  (Goodreads)

This was a book I wouldn't known about, had it not been a book group pick. And, I really liked it! It is a slow starter and at one point, I wondered if anything was going to happen with the plot . . . and then it started to pick up, went in a direction I didn't expect, and then it went in the direction of BIG, interesting ideas.  So, very cool.  Something else I liked about this book is that the characters are very realistically written.  Annie is a smart girl, but she's not pretentious, or precious --- she's believable. And so are the other characters, even the quirky ones. This is the kind of story that you could see yourself in, or believe could happen.  And the science-fiction aspects of it made sense --- it's not hard science fiction, so it's what I call "SciFi Light."  Definitely a story where the ordinary person is a hero.