Ah yes, the Great Adventures of Dad at the Corner store.

Don't do that - you'll let the space-time continuum in. Fortunately The Milk

What a unique take on an alien invasion and treading multiple timelines. Imagine just minding your business having your latte or about to dig into a hot dog at lunch but suddenly getting beamed up into a spaceship by a bunch of semi-competent alien blobs who have mistaken you as the representative of the human race - or worse, their leader. Yeah, the adventuring dad has that mindset of well, "what if I pressed this button - what would happen?" And I gotta say I love that let's just try it spirit, in small doses.

Dad goes on a wild adventure but keeps a tight hold on the milk because after all - you can't have cereal without milk (I've been doing it wrong, see I munch on dry cereal when I read. No good). From walking the plank to landing in a massive hot air balloon basket and so many adventures thereafter - this dad went through the wringer for that bowl of cereal laddie.

I may not be in middle grade, but I have taught it and my students would love this book.