We Are Definitely Human

Written & Illustrated by X. Fang

Tundra | 2024

This book promises to bring the fun when read aloud and to inspire kindness with its readers. The illustrations are created with graphite on paper and then colored digitally. Hot pink is reserved for the endpapers, the visitors from “Europe” (aliens), and their broken “car” (spaceship) that strands them on our planet while the small town actual humans exhibit more earthy and subtle tones. The dogs are a bit suspicious of the visitors, but the humans welcome them with open arms and assist them with all their needs. The author/illustrator, also known as Susan, creates the characters with Southern hospitality, influenced by her childhood growing up as an immigrant in Georgia, but has found the same feeling in her current rural Maine town, as well. There will definitely be some good discussions following this book on trying to blend in to new situations, sticking out like a sore thumb, graciously accepting differences without judgement, coming together as a community to help each other, and how expressive eyes can be in illustrations.

Discussion questions:

What have you done as a kind human to help others?
Pauses and ellipsis (...) used in this story are being used as think time. By definition the ellipsis implies either missing words or suggests an incomplete thought. You also see ellipsis when someone is typing a text or chat that hasn’t been completed or sent yet. How is it used by the humans? Is it different or the same when the aliens use it?
Europe is a continent that includes many countries like England, Spain, Germany, Iceland,and Italy. Besides their appearance, what are the clues that give away that the aliens aren’t humans or from Europe, as they claim? Why would they come up with another country or continent when asked where they are from? [Europe was named after a Greek Mythological Princess named Europa. Europa is what we call Jupiter’s 4th largest moon. Coincidence? Hmm.]
How did the illustrator use color to help show the visiting strangers were otherworldly?
The Li family’s dog isn’t as accepting of the strangers as his family. How can you tell?

Vocabulary:

Y’all: stands for "you all." A casual way to address two or more people. Common in the Southeastern United States.

Video content:

Read aloud https://youtu.be/lipIuAyFOi8?si=gaYZQ30D9xPzf6RI 5 minutes
Mystery Science 6 minute episode on “Are aliens real?” https://youtu.be/ZnTXC-Wldr8?si=2TcFVf3I7RmvsNTv
Fun book trailer https://youtube.com/shorts/v8-BsuUNO1g?si=LY1KmwKF1lgrqZnq

Publisher content :

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/714331/we-are-definitely-human-by-x-fang/

Activities:

Encourage acts of kindness or celebrate Random Acts of Kindness. Tuesday, February 17, 2026 is Random Acts of Kindness day. November 13 is World Kindness Day. See https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/ for 100s of ideas, calendars, printables, and to consider becoming a certified Kindness school or classroom.
Make a welcoming kit for new families or students to town/school. Consider what would make them feel the most welcome in the community, especially free activities and programs that happen locally. Include local library information and local annual or seasonal events.
Create alien art on black paper with fluorescent paint or pastels. Show the beings along with their “car”. Optional: make the car or aliens on separate paper from a background to make a video or stop motion animation of them travelling or crash landing onto Earth. See part of the fun book trailer above for inspiration.
Peek under the dust jacket to see a different cover. Have a scavenger hunt in the library for books with different covers. Make a display.
Read other books with aliens in them and compare how aliens are depicted.

X. Fang

Author & Illustrator
www.xfang.studio

X. Fang, also goes by Susan, was born in Taiwan and moved to Atlanta, Georgia at the age of four. She now lives in Maine with her husband (Peter Brown - WILD ROBOT), fur child (Pamela), and skin child (Calvin). She has 3 books published so far: Dim Sum Palace, We are Definitely Human, and Broken.

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