Cecil Castellucci delivers a sparse study in loneliness and angst in her latest novel for teens. Her protagonist, 16-year-old Mal, is a morose and withdrawn boy who believes he was abducted by aliens for three days when he was 12. Found alone in the California desert, he was pegged as a runaway by authorities. But Mal harbours bizarre half-memories of the abduction – probes, piercing lights, “little gray men”– which he keeps
secret, fearing people will think he’s crazy.

Using this as a framework, Castellucci crafts a gloomy and quirky metaphorical piece about being a misfit. Mal is a classic outsider with few friends, a dark persona, and an unpromising future. He wishes the aliens would return and take him away from his unhappy life. When he meets a weird homeless man named Hooper, who claims to be an alien, Mal hopes this will be his chance to escape.

Consisting of 62 short chapters (many just a few lines long), the book is strong on mood, but weak on story. Mal’s goal – to help Hooper rendezvous with his spaceship and convince the aliens to spirit him away – does not emerge until more than halfway through the book. Meanwhile, we get heavy doses of Mal’s glum perspective. With little narrative engagement, readers may find all the angst a bit oppressive. 

Nonetheless, First Day is ultimately satisfying thanks to Castellucci’s deftness with character development. Along with two other misfits – Posey, a sweet girl with a secret, and Darwyn, an overly enthusiastic boy who has a developmental disability – Mal takes Hooper into the desert to meet the spaceship. What transpires there is touching and, most importantly, believable within the universe of these characters. Faced with the biggest decision of his life, Mal learns that belonging is not always a choice.