I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore Reading Response

The title, I Am Number Four, has great significance and is the theme of the story.  The story opens just as number Three is murdered.  We don’t know it yet, but the main protagonist, John Smith, is number Four and he is next to die.  John Smith, a sophomore in high school, has just arrived in Paradise, Ohio, but he has been moving around since he landed here on planet earth many years ago.

When John Smith was just barely able to walk his planet, Lorien, was invaded by its planetary neighbors the Mogadorians.  These evil neighbors were running out of resources to keep their race alive.  Their plan was to conquer earth, but this couldn’t happen until the last of the Lorien race was annihilated.  Number Four’s grandfather, who had raised him (all Loric children are raised by their grandparents and a guardian/protector), led him and his protector, Henri,to safety.  Along with eight other children and their guardians, John was sent to planet Earth on the last transport pod before Lorien was destroyed.

After their space journey the Loric children, each with their own protector, scattered over the Earth to start new lives.  John, for example,  lived in many places before finding a home in Ohio.  Each child also has a charm that protects them from being killed.  But the Mogadorians know their fatal weakness.  If they want to kill every last Loric child they have to do it in the sequence that the Lorien elders assigned.  To the Mogadorians these Loric children would be known as numbers One through Nine.

The Mogadarians have an inner sense when the children are near and can track them.  The Loric children just want to live a normal life without having to run.   They mostly get along with and learn how to share their lives with humans.  John is taught at an early age to act like his fellow humans. In Ohio he finally finds the girl of his dreams.  He falls in love with Sarah Hart and hopes that he will get the chance to make a life with her.  But from the minute we meet him, we know as well as he that at life with Sarah will not be an easy one to make. When the Mogadorians come for John he has to make the decision to fight back and defeat them and live a life with Sarah or let them kill him so they can conquer earth. He choses the obvious choice. Defeat the Mogadorians and find the other Loric children so he can live a long and harmonious life with Sarah.