Alien Attack!

By Alan MacDonald and Nigel Baines

Welcome back to Mighty High – the school for superheroes. Stan and his friends are so busy preparing for their Heroes exams and having flying lessons that no one seems to realise that Miles has been abducted by aliens! Can fully-fledged superhero Captain Courageous lend a hand or will their fates be decided by a piece of bionic bubble gum?

With fully integrated black and white illustrations throughout, this laugh-out-loud series is perfect for young readers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Apr 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781408825310

Alan MacDonald

Alan MacDonald has written over 150 books, including the Devil's Trade and Axel Feinstein series for Scholastic, along with titles in the Dead Famous, Pickle Hill Primary and Double Take series. He is also a regular writer for the Oxford Reading Tree and has had picture books published by Little Tiger Press. Alan MacDonald started his working life in a travelling theatre company. In addition to writing and directing plays, Alan trained as a drama teacher. He has written stories and dramas for the BBC (both television and radio), as well as many children's books. Alan lives in Nottingham.

Book preview

Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth, the trainee superheroes of Mighty High were on an exciting school trip with their head teacher.

‘Well, this is it,

said Miss Marbles, leading them into the vast crowded hall. ‘Almost every superhero on the planet is probably in this building somewhere.’

Stan looked around. Most people had come dressed in superhero costumes, so it was hard to tell which were actually famous. He’d been looking forward to this trip for weeks. There were stalls selling books, posters, silk capes, masks, signed photos and deadly hypno-rings for £1.99. He picked up a packet from a nearby stall and read the label.

‘Hey, check out this bubblegum,’ he said, showing Minnie.

‘Bionic?’ said Minnie. ‘It’s probably as bionic as your brain.’

‘Are you buying that or not?’ demanded the stallholder – a man wearing a pair of ears that lit up like fairy lights.

‘How much is it?’ asked Stan.

‘One ninety-five.’

‘For a packet of bubblegum?’ said Minnie.

‘It’s bionic, love,’ said the man. ‘Can’t you read?’

Stan handed over the money. He still had some left, which he was saving to get a copy of Captain Courageous’s latest book: BORN SUPER! Ever since Stan was old enough to wear a cape he’d idolised Captain Courageous and dreamed of meeting him.

Now here he was, a pupil at Mighty High School, training to join the ranks of tomorrow’s superheroes. Soon after he had started at Mighty High, he’d made firm friends with Miles, Minnie and Pudding the Wonderdog. Together they’d formed the Invincibles, probably the greatest superhero gang in their class (and certainly the only one).

Stan pointed to a life-sized picture of a superhero with his fist raised to the sky.

‘

He’s actually here,’ he cried. ‘Captain Courageous!’

The sign said his idol would be signing books in the main hall at two o’clock.‘What are we waiting for?’ asked Minnie. ‘Let’s go!’

Miles looked around anxiously. ‘Um … actually, I need the toilet.’

They walked past rows of souvenir stalls to reach the main hall. Stan stared in disbelief.

‘You’re kidding me!’ he groaned. The queue snaked twice round the hall and back down the corridor.

‘We’ll have to wait hours to meet him,’ said Minnie.

‘But it’s Captain Courageous, we can’t give up now,’ argued Stan.

‘Sorry, but I really really need the toilet,’ said Miles, jiggling around.

‘Hurry up, then,’ sighed Minnie. ‘We’ll be in the queue.’

Miles headed off down the corridor as Stan rubbed his ear. ‘You’re doing it again,’ said Minnie.

‘What?’

‘That thing you always do with your ears.’

Stan shrugged. ‘I can’t help it, they started itching just now.’

Ever since he was little his ears had warned him when something bad was about to happen. Sometimes it only turned out to be Brussels sprouts for dinner, but occasionally it