“Three are dead. I am number four.” Nothing is more thrilling than seeing this on the front of a book. The cover art plus this phrase just really grabs a reader and is what initially catches the attention of many causing them to want to read “I Am Number Four” by Pittacus Lore. It ties everything into a big legend of aliens, romance, and the saving of not one, but two worlds.

The opening pages start with Lore telling the reader about how all of the following events are true but names and places have been changed to protect those of the story. Furthermore he warns how aliens do exist and warns about how some wish to harm those on Earth. Finally the story starts introducing us to Number Four. He is an alien from the planet Lorien, he is four of nine that escaped their planet to Earth because the Mogadorians were invading their home planet, Lorien. The nine escaped to Earth as children so they would have time to develop their powers and eventually meet up to take down the leader of the Mogadorians, Setrakus Ra, and virtually take back their planet.

For now Four, whose alias is John Smith, is hiding out and waiting for his powers to unfold while still trying to be a normal teenage boy. When the book starts he is moving to Paradise, Ohio where John meets Sarah Hart and furthers to unintentionally tangle her up in his alien war. As John’s powers develop he reaches some life changing issues and some conflict with his Cêpan, Henri, who came with him from Lorien to help guide him through his power’s developing. John’s hope of a normal teenage life is crushed when the Mogadorians find him he is stuck with the decision to flee and leave behind Sarah and his best friend Sam or to stay with his newfound friends and fight for the first time in his life.

If books that break out in huge battle scenes with fun and complex backgrounds, hidden meanings, and a strong love story this is a book that has all of that. Discover what happens to Four and the other remaining six and find out if they will defeat Setrakus Ra. “I Am Number Four,” is the first book in an ongoing series by Pittacus Lore an elder from Lorien.