Gary Ghislain
Author of How I Stole Johnny Depp's Alien Girlfriend
Series
Works by Gary Ghislain
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Ghislain, Gary
- Legal name
- Ghislain, Gary
- Birthdate
- 1971-06-30
- Gender
- male
- Short biography
- Born in France to an international family (1 part French, 2 parts Spanish, 1 part Strange), Gary Ghislain grew up between Paris and the French Riviera. After obtaining a master's degree in literature and linguistics at the University of Paris 8, he packed his passport, a few reasonably clean T-shirts and his beloved Converse shoes, and headed out to travel the world, work odd jobs and write young adult novels. He now lives in Antibes on the French Riviera, enjoying the sun and the sea while working on his novels. HOW I STOLE JOHNNY DEPP'S ALIEN GIRLFRIEND, 2011 from Chronicle Books. TWILIGHT OF THE TRUE BLOOD VAMPIRE DIARIES, 2013 from F2G Novels
- Nationality
- France
- Birthplace
- Paris, France
- Places of residence
- Antibes
- Associated Place (for map)
- Paris, France
Members
Reviews
How I Stole Johnny Depp's Alien Girlfriend is one of the most outrageous, laugh-out-loud books I've read in a long, LONG time. Think Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy meets The True Meaning of Smekday...two of my very favorite books, by the way. When David's father, a famous therapist, is 'fixing' Zelda, all sorts of mayhem and mischief starts. Zelda is a wacky, one-track-minded, brutish woman, who is on Earth (from her planet Vahalal) to find her 'chosen one' and mate. Of course, there are show more no men on Vahalal, since they are dumb, worthless, smelly, and crude. Clearly, Zelda thinks, as does all of Vahalal, that men are only good for one thing.
When Zelda is on a murderous trek to find Johnny Depp (Zelda's chosen one) and transfer her green key tattoo to him (in order to re-enter Vahalal), David is smitten and enlists help from his step-sister, Malou. Together, the three of them, escape authority figures, encounter some maverick Vahalalian rebels called Valks, and generally cause an uproar throughout France with side-splitting humorous escapades that will have the reader wondering just how far these alien women will go.
This is one of the best books I've read this year! Kudos to Gary Ghislain, on his debut YA novel. I hope, hope, hope he is planning to write more.
Thank you to LibraryThing Early Reviewers, Gary Ghislain, Chronicle Books and Lara Starr for this highly engaging, quirky, and outrageously readable book. show less
When Zelda is on a murderous trek to find Johnny Depp (Zelda's chosen one) and transfer her green key tattoo to him (in order to re-enter Vahalal), David is smitten and enlists help from his step-sister, Malou. Together, the three of them, escape authority figures, encounter some maverick Vahalalian rebels called Valks, and generally cause an uproar throughout France with side-splitting humorous escapades that will have the reader wondering just how far these alien women will go.
This is one of the best books I've read this year! Kudos to Gary Ghislain, on his debut YA novel. I hope, hope, hope he is planning to write more.
Thank you to LibraryThing Early Reviewers, Gary Ghislain, Chronicle Books and Lara Starr for this highly engaging, quirky, and outrageously readable book. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.A hilarious, guy-friendly caper/romance/science fiction humor story. Set in France, where 14 year old David lives with his divorced therapist father. Dad specializes in treating difficult and mentally challenged teenagers, and his latest client, brought in by police when they found her homeless and stealing food, is a feisty girl who insists that she is not from planet Earth! David is immediately attracted to her, even as he is afraid of her violent tendencies and doesn't believe her wild show more story that she needs to bring her "chosen one"-- Johnny Depp!-- back with her to her women-only planet Vahalal. But then she manages to escape her captivity in a very unearthly way, and despite himself David impulsively decides to help her in her quest, foolish as he thinks it may be. This book is a very goofy, lighthearted, silly, yet very readable adventure story. The alien technology and characteristics that Zelda tells David about are pretty imaginative--from "Space Flop" (jet lag from "Space Splashing" between planets) to the galactic germs she inadvertently infects him with, to the tattooed "key" that holds special meaning for interstellar travel. I think this book is aimed squarely at middle school boys, who will love the madcap chases, sci-fi goofiness, the stuff blowing up, and living every nerd boy's fantasy of winning the hot chick who can knock down bad guys with her martial arts skills. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.I believe it's safe to say that, like most readers of this book, I chose it simply for the hilarious title. But it turned out to be really good! Zelda claims she's from the planet Vahalal, visiting Earth just to find her "chosen one" who happens to be Johnny Depp. David, the narrator, is the son of Zelda's therapist (she's very violent, and is arrested a few times) and has a huge crush on Zelda. David's voice is great - young, smart and relatable. The zany antics of the characters throughout show more Paris were really funny. The story was clever, too, in that you're never absolutely sure if Zelda is truly crazy or truly an alien. My main problem with the book is that it's marketed as young adult, and there were several aspects that I did not feel were appropriate for younger readers (the back of the book says it's for 12 and up - I'd say more like 16 and up). There was a lot of talk about sex, and while nothing major happens in the book, more is implied. The young characters are very violent and break the law many times. For adults who enjoy reading YA, this was a super fun read. As a bookseller, I just feel it's important that parents know what their kids are getting when picking out books - this is one I'd recommend with reservations. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.David’s father is a psychologist who specializes in troubled teens. His current patient is Zelda, a beautiful girl in a bikini who claims she is an alien from an all-female planet, sent to find her one true mate (who happens to be Johnny Depp.) I was expecting a sort of “is she or isn’t she?” story, where we would end the book unclear as to whether Zelda was mentally ill or actually an alien. That question is answered about halfway through, when the book takes a decidedly old-school show more sci-fi turn. I would have preferred the uncertainty. A strange little book. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 5
- Members
- 191
- Popularity
- #114,254
- Rating
- 3.4
- Reviews
- 34
- ISBNs
- 12
- Languages
- 2
