Missing—One Brain! Read online

  “Hold on,” muttered Balteeri. He cut the lights, and darkness engulfed us. At the same time we began to plummet, dropping so fast I felt like my middle parts were trying to push their way through the top of my head.

  Our craft had a viewport in its roof. Looking up, I saw a shaft of light as our pursuers burst into the cavern. They raced straight ahead, unaware that we were now below them.

  “Nicely done, Balteeri!” said Derrvan triumphantly.

  We moved more slowly now, though still faster than seemed safe to me.

  Deeper we went, and deeper still, until at last we came to another cavern—a place, I would soon learn, of sorrow and strangeness.

  And it was here, at last, that Derrvan and Balteeri told me their story.

  To be continued…

  More from this Series

  Lunch Swap Disaster

  Book 4

  Zombies of the Science…

  Book 5

  Class Pet Catastrophe

  Book 6

  Sixth-Grade Alien

  Book 1

  More from the Author

  Goblins in the Castle

  Goblins on the Prowl

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR

  Bruce Coville has published more than one hundred books, including My Teacher Is an Alien; Into the Land of the Unicorns; and Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher. He is a frequent speaker at schools and conferences, and has presented on five continents. He is also the founder and producing director of Full Cast Audio, an audiobook company that creates recordings of the best in children’s and young adult literature. He lives in Syracuse, New York, with his wife, author and illustrator Katherine Coville. Visit him online at BruceCoville.com.

  Glen Mullaly is an award-winning illustrator whose work can be found in books, magazines, greeting cards, and posters. He has also created puzzles and paper crafts for McDonald’s, and his Star Wars comics for kids (illustrated by legendary artist Ken Steacy) have been released by Marvel Comics in graphic novel format. In addition to the Sixth-Grade Alien series, he also illustrated Bruce Coville’s My Teacher Is an Alien series. He lives on the West Coast with his wife and cat. Visit Glen at GlenMullaly.com and follow him on Facebook at glenmullalyillustration.

  ALADDIN

  Simon & Schuster, New York

  Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids

  www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Bruce-Coville

  www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Glen-Mullaly

  DON’T MISS THE ANY OF THE SIXTH-GRADE ALIEN ADVENTURES!

  Sixth-Grade Alien

  I Shrank My Teacher

  Missing—One Brain!

  Lunch Swap Disaster

  A GLOSSARY OF ALIEN TERMS

  Following is a list of Hevi-Hevian words and phrases that appear for the first time in this book. (Words first used in Books One and Two of Sixth-Grade Alien can be found in the glossary at the end of Book Two: I Shrank My Teacher.)

  The number after a definition indicates the chapter where the term first appears.

  For most words here we are only giving the spelling. In actual usage many would, of course, be accompanied by smells or body sounds.

  GEEZIL BEEDRUM:

  A slightly vulgar slang term used by kids on Hevi-Hevi. Literally translated it means “great boogers of doom.” Not approved for use in polite company. (7)

  GNORZLE:

  The internal organ where words are formed; located between the airsac and the swallow box (18)

  GRAKKIMS:

  Fierce beach-dwelling creatures that like to build intricate sand structures. (6)

  HERKLUMP:

  A heavily armored herdbeast found in the equatorial plains of Hevi-Hevi. May reach weights in excess of four tons. Often referred to as “the largest animal known to exist without the benefit of a brain.” (This is not true, of course. Herklumps do have brains, but no one knew it for a long time because a herklump’s brain is [a] somewhat smaller than a grape and [b] located—for reasons no one quite understands—in its rear end.) (4)

  MIZRICK:

  A tubular beach animal with a distinctive purple shell. The shells, which are beautiful and often brought home as vacation souvenirs, are famous for their sound-conducting qualities. (21)

  SMORGLE:

  The portion of the Hevi-Hevian brain devoted to matters of love and friendship. (20)

  SPRATZELS:

  Fierce beach-dwelling creatures that delight in tearing down intricate sand structures. (6)

  SQUAMBUL:

  An underwater vine that grows in the northern ponds of Hevi-Hevi. When infected with perzink (a moldlike substance), its roots develop large, tasty pods that are highly nutritious. A favorite snack food on Hevi-Hevi. Exported throughout the galaxy. (10)

  VERPLEXXIM:

  Unpleasant and tense. The term comes from the phrase “Agle agbit [angry smell] eskbat eegle verplexxim” (literally: “I have an agbit thorn under the skin of my butt, and it is making me totally miserable.” This was a common problem for early workers in the wampfields, and though it no longer actually happens, the term has entered popular use). (6)

  WUNGBORKLE:

  A snakelike creature found in the swamps of Mingbat Seven. Wungborkles can reach a length of up to fifty feet and have anywhere between two and eight hands. (Hands are highly prized, and the more hands a wungborkle can grow, the greater its prestige.) They are highly intelligent, and highly vicious. Their skins, which they shed on a regular basis, are greatly prized by fashion designers around the galaxy. (13)

  ZARKAFLIAN SHLNUTBERG:

  A hard-shelled creature that dwells in the ice fields of Zarkafle (fourth planet out from the star Mixtorpia). Eight to ten inches long when fully grown, the shlnutberg is a particularly dangerous parasite because it sucks the warmth out of other creatures. Early explorers to the ice fields often froze to death when attacked by groups of shlnutbergs. (4)

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ALADDIN

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  This Aladdin paperback edition August 2020

  Text copyright © 1999, 2020 by Bruce Coville

  Previously published in 1999 as I Lost My Grandfather’s Brain

  Illustrations copyright © 2020 by Glen Mullaly

  Also available in an Aladdin hardcover edition.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  ALADDIN and related logo are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected].

  The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  Book designed by Tiara Iandiorio

  The illustrations for this book were rendered in a mix of traditional and digital media.

  Library of Congress Control Number 2020935836

  ISBN 9781534464841 (hc)

  ISBN 9781534464827 (pbk)

  ISBN 9781534464834 (eBook)

 

 

 
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