Book excerpt: In the first book of this middle grade sci-fi series, a teen gains alien superpowers that make him popular at school, but put him in mortal danger. Dweeb . . . Dork . . . These are names Ethan Rogers is used to being called in the halls of Metier Junior High. It’s safe to say that he’s an outcast. Outside of a brainy clique of nerds, Ethan doesn’t have many friends. Still, there are advantages to being from his small Wisconsin town, like Metier’s weird history of UFO sightings. For a comic book geek like Ethan, the possibility of seeing an alien is pretty awesome. Until he looks in the mirror on his thirteenth birthday and discovers he is an alien. At first, it’s not as bad as it seems. Ethan suddenly has powers greater than some of his favorite superheroes. Beating the school bully in a fight is pretty rad. And when Ethan foils a robbery attempt, he becomes a local hero. But being in the spotlight isn’t easy for Ethan, especially when he learns his kind has been targeted for termination . . .