We’re Not From Here

• Genre: Fiction; middle grade science fiction
• Originally Published: 2019
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 740L; grades 3-7
• Structure/Length: 27 chapters; approx. 256 pages; approx. 7 hours on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Lan’s family immigrates to Planet Choom after Earth is destroyed, but when they arrive, they discover that they are not welcome.

Geoff Rodkey, Author

• Bio: Grew up in Freeport, Illinois; currently lives in New York City with his wife and three sons; is an Emmy-nominated screenwriter; screenplays include RV (2006) and Daddy Day Care (2003)
• Other Works: The Chronicles of Egg series (2012-2014); The Tapper Twins series (2015-2017); Stuck in the Stone Age (2018)
• Awards: Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production (2020)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• The Dangers of Misinformation
• We Can Be Both Brave and Scared
• Being Truthful With Ourselves Lets Us Grow

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Develop an understanding of sociocultural contexts regarding immigrants, the immigration process, and problems immigrants to new countries face as represented by the characters who try to settle on Choom.
• Analyze short paired texts and other resources to make connections via the text’s themes of The Dangers of Misinformation and We Can Be Both Brave and Scared.
• Create and explore pieces of comedy that might have been used to sway the Zhuri on Choom based on novelistic details.