Take Me to Your Leader

Take Me to Your Leader: Perspectives on Your First Alien Encounter
by Neil deGrasse Tyson
First Simon Six/Simon & Schuster, 2026. 226 pages. Nonfiction.

The culmination of a lifetime of fascination and speculation, Tyson applies the universal laws of physics to make the case for what aliens might look like, act like, how they might travel, what they might think. Should such an event occur, Tyson offers useful etiquette tips for your first close encounter.

First, a very crucial disclaimer: If you still can’t accept the 2006 reclassification of Pluto as a “dwarf planet” and haven’t forgiven Dr. Tyson for his role in “kicking Pluto out of the solar system”, then I regret to inform you that he is as gleefully unrepentant as ever. Even worse, he tries to justify his actions by means of the Pioneer 10/11 space probes. (The probes each had a golden plaque affixed to them depicting a mathematical “map” and a diagram of our Solar System, the idea being that any intelligent beings finding a probe would then be able to locate and contact Earth.) He theorizes:

“If evil Aliens seek to become our overlords, and they survey our region of the Galaxy, they would be completely confused by the eight planets and six huge moons they see in our actual solar system. The Aliens would surely pass us by, in search of the nine-planet star system portrayed on the plaque, leaving us undisturbed, making Pluto the savior of all mankind.”

Nice try, Dr. Tyson. #JusticeForPluto

Salty attitudes aside, this is a breezy, fun read. Die-hard sci-fi fans will enjoy Tyson’s examinations of just about every type of fictional extraterrestrial ever created. (He even takes credit for consulting with DC Comics on the now-canon explanation for baby Superman’s speedy arrival on Earth—he traveled through a wormhole!) He discusses the plausibility of ancient marvels, modern conspiracy theories, UFO sightings, and abduction accounts alike with a clinical eye. Dr. Tyson encourages readers to keep an open mind, but not to jump to conclusions. (Good advice, no matter the topic.) And maybe one day, if aliens do contact humankind, we’ll be wise enough to not commit an interstellar faux pas within the first five minutes.

If you liked Take Me to Your Leader, you might also like:

The Little Book of Aliens

by Adam Frank

Harper, 2023. 215 pages. Nonfiction.

Everyone is curious about life in the Universe, UFOs and whether E.T. is out there. Over the course of his thirty-year career as an astrophysicist, Adam Frank has consistently been asked about the possibility of intelligent life in the universe. Are aliens real? Where are they? Why haven't we found them? What happens if we do? We've long been led to believe that astronomers spend every night searching the sky for extraterrestrials, but the truth is we have barely started looking. Not until now have we even known where to look or how. Here, Frank, a leading researcher in the field, takes us on a journey to all that we know about the possibility of life outside planet Earth and shows us the cutting-edge science that has brought us to this unique moment in human history: the one where we go find out for ourselves.

Why on Earth: An Alien Invasion Anthology

by Rosiee Thor, ed.

Page Street Publishing, 2025. 329 pages. YA Sci-Fi.

What starts as a simple rescue mission for a crew of teen aliens to recover one of their own soon becomes an interstellar encounter no one will forget. Captain Iona is organizing an impromptu retrieval for her brother, an undercover alien posing as a movie star. But her efforts go awry when a technical malfunction turns her heroic rescue into an unintentional invasion. With tales of disguised extraterrestrials stuck in theme parks, starship engineers hitchhiking to get home, and myth-inspired intergalactic sibling reunions, each story in this multi-author anthology explores the universal desire to be loved and understood, no matter where you come from. After all ... aliens are just like us.

Hole in the Sky

by Daniel H. Wilson

Doubleday, 2025. 267 pages. Sci-Fi.

On the Great Plains of Oklahoma, in the heart of the Cherokee Nation, a strange atmospheric disturbance is noticed by Jim Hardgray, a down-on-his-luck single father trying to reconnect with his teenage daughter, Tawny. At NASA's headquarters in Houston, Texas, astrophysicist Dr. Mikayla Johnson observes an interaction with the Voyager 1 spacecraft on the far side of the solar system, and she concludes that something enormous and unidentified is heading directly for Earth. And in an undisclosed bunker somewhere in the United States, an American threat forecaster known only as the Man Downstairs intercepts a cryptic communication and sends a message directly to the president and highest-ranking military brass: "First contact imminent."

-LAH