I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
Once there was a world peopled with enlightened beings of grace and intellect. And then the Mogadorians came to rape the living world of its resources and the people of their wealth. The invasion was unexpected and swift and the people only had time to save their Guardians by sending them into space to a far-away planet. The Guardians, though, were only children – not yet come into their “Legacies,” the powers that the living world had bestowed on them.
These nine children had been born to be Guardians of both the planet and its people. With each child went a Garde, a protector tasked to keep them alive on the new world and teach them how to use the Legacies. Staying alive until they matured and powers awoke would be no easy task. Knowing the Mogadorians would follow, the nine children had to separate and live in hiding from their enemies and from each other. The years went by as they individually moved from place to place, never settling and always watchful, until the moment they knew they had been found. Each child was linked to the others, and one of the gifts of the living planet was that each would know when another died, and each must die in number order or the child could not be killed. And the day came when young John (only one of many names he had worn) knew that three of his group had been killed and he would be next. He is Number Four.
John and Henri, his Garde, fled to Ohio, not only to hide but to find the answers to some of the mysteries of their arrival on Earth. It had not been fate or chance that led them to Earth, but an unseen power and plan. The Elders of the home world had disappeared shortly before the invasion and clearly there had been foresight into the future, but any knowledge was hidden from the children and their Garde. In Ohio, John found his Legacies, his love and a best friend, but the enemy found him. John knew that he must survive because although he was too young to save his own world, perhaps he could save Earth. The cost of survival, though, was almost more than he was willing to pay.
I Am Number Four is an outstanding tale of courage and search for self. The author is one of the missing Elders and he remains as mysterious and unseen to the reader as he does to the children. John struggles through all the normal growing pains, and the unworldly growing pains are heaped on him, as well. He yearns for a simple life – boy plays sports, boy meets girl and falls in love, boy hangs out with his friends. But there is nothing simple about John or his life. He is called on to do “great things” and make great sacrifices and feels inadequate for both. The writing is excellent, the action nonstop, and story enthralling.
Book Stats:
- Reading level: Ages 14 and up
- Hardcover: 480 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; Mti edition (January 4, 2011)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0062026240
- ISBN-13: 978-0062026248
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Books in the Lorien Legacies series in the order they should be read:
I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: Six’s Legacy
I Am Number Four
I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: Nine’s Legacy
The Power of Six
I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: The Legacies
I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: The Fallen Legacies
The Rise of Nine
we really enjoyed this movie
This sounds fantastic, as I’m a sucker for non-stop action. Of course, the writing has to be good too. I was planning to see the movie, but I’ll definitely read the book first. Thanks for sharing this detailed review.