Summary
I am Number Four is a science fiction novel written by Pittacus Lore. The story takes place in Paradise, Ohio, a small town with a population less then 1,000. The year is 2010. The story follows the life of John Smith, an alien Garde from the planet Lorien, and his struggles to survive the Morgadorians. Lorien is an alien planet inhabited by human like beings. On the planet their were Gardes, those who defended the planet, and Cepans, those who taught and protected the Gardes. John's home planet, Lorien, was destroyed by another alien race called the Morgadorians. John and nine other Gardes were able to escape the planet with their Cepans before it was destroyed. Before they left the planet all nine of them were put under a Loric charm by a Lorien Elder. The charm assigned each of them a number, 1-9. This charm prevented them from being killed out of order. Number 1 was the first to die on earth, then number 2, and then number 3. John is number 4. Henri, John's Cepan decides to move to Paradise, Ohio to keep John safe. John has to go to a new school, meet new friends, and keep a low profile. At school he meets a girl named Sarah. They become good friends and eventually begin to date. Johns life is going great until Henri is captured while on a mission trying to discover more about their enemy. John and his friend Sam are forced to go save him before the Morgadorians can harm him. They rescue Henri, but just barley. Johns life is pretty quiet for a while after this until Mark, the schools star football player, decides to have a party. John and Sarah decide to go to this party thinking it will be fun. Everything is going great until someone accidentally starts a fire in Mark's house. Everyone escapes except for Sarah who gets trapped inside. John is forced to make a quick decision. He has the ability to save her with his legacies but doing so may blow his cover. Lorien Gardes were all given legacies as they grew older. These legacies gave them special powers and one of John's legacies is to become heat resistant. So John rushes into the flaming house to save her, and he does, but at a price. Someone caught him on film jumping out of the flaming building with Sarah and has posted the video online. This alerts every Morgadorian in the world to Johns location. He is then forced to fight for his life with Sarah, Henri, Mark, Sam, and number six at Paradise high school which is surrounded by Morgadorians. The fate of the world rest in his hands and if he is defeated the Morgadorians will kill the other Loriens and take over earth.