Author: Ruben Bolling

My buddy Tom Tomorrow sent me this picture of ALIEN INVASION IN MY BACKYARD in a Connecticut Barnes & Noble, so… I guess the book is OUT!

On GoodReads, a former primary school teacher has this to say about what she calls "a brilliant story that will really appeal to early readers of chaptered books":

"As a teacher, I could easily have used this story to help children explore relationships, to decide on an alternative alien invading force and how to counteract them, to rewrite specific sections from an alternative viewpoint (e.g. that of the aliens or Ferdinand) . . . . etc. Lots of potential activities from a brilliant story that children will enjoy reading independently."

This is the kind of review that can ruin me as a kids' author.  Alien Invasion in My Backyard is a story about robots, aliens, Earth-saving heroics, and spelunking!  If kids knew a teacher thought it could be used constructively and enjoyably in the classroom, they'd push it to the side of the plate like so much steamed broccoli.

So, educators:  I'm glad if you enjoy the book, and thrilled if you think you can use it to help kids learn.  And please spread the word.  But if any kids catch you with this information, DENY EVERYTHING.

For years, I knew that there was someone meticulously cataloging every online Tom the Dancing Bug comic, starting when it first appeared on Salon.com in 1995, collecting links on a simple page he called "Tom the Dancing Bug:  The Complete Archive Listing."

Well, that now-defunct page just happened to come up today in a Google search, but this time the search result attached the page's author's name to the result, and that name leaped out at me:  Aaron Swartz.  

This is the young man who was a programmer/hacker/activist prodigy and the subject of the documentary "The Internet's Own Boy."  He committed suicide in 2013, in the midst of a criminal prosecution for systematically downloading academic journal articles.

When he died, I recognized the name in articles about him from a few Twitter exchanges we'd had, and the fact that he was a member of the INNER HIVE. I realized who my internet acquaintance was, what he had accomplished, and tragically, how he died.  

But until this moment, I had no idea just what a devoted reader of Tom the Dancing Bug he was.

I'm saddened all over again.  I wish I had met him.

Review of ALIEN INVASION IN MY BACKYARD from Ben Langhinrichs, of Big Comfy Chair:

"Written as a comic book/case book, this promises to be an absolutely wonderful series of stories for the elementary crowd if this first installment is any indication. I would strongly recommend this for second through fourth graders.

"Five out of five stars!"

Starting March 4, the Society of Illustrators in NYC (with co-presenter the Small Press Expo) is presenting an exhibit of alternative weekly cartoonists, in which my comics are included.

I'm especially looking forward to the March 6 opening reception, when I'll see a bunch of my buddies.

Looks like curators Warren Bernard and Bill Kartalopoulos did a fantastic job with this, and I can't wait to see it.

For information about the exhibit, click here.

For information about the opening reception, click here.