An entertaining and heartwarming journey into space.
Kids from around the U.S. join a space mission that tests their physical, mental, and interpersonal abilities.
Tia is a Latine tween working at her older brother Hector’s car shop when she learns about a new NASA initiative. The program, run by renowned Black astronaut (and co-author) Melvin, will send kids into space to intern at a research facility. Uber-responsible Indira, who’s cued Indian American, also tries out, but she’s seated near Tia during the test and is convinced Tia cheated by looking at her paper. Despite her frequent absences and failing grades, Tia is selected, while Indira is made an alternate. At space camp, Tia meets football player Bradley (who reads white), space-obsessed Andromeda (who appears East Asian), and Steven, a Black-presenting boy who has cerebral palsy and is an aspiring research biologist. Melvin’s STEAM Team members pair up for physical conditioning and training for living in space, running laps and using a multi-axis trainer. After Steven is injured and goes home temporarily to recover, Indira becomes Tia’s new partner (fortunately, Steven is later able to return). As the spaceships are prepped for launch, Melvin reinforces the message that “there are no useless skills. There are only skills that aren’t being used to their full potential.” The strong pacing and Acton’s vibrant color palette make this an engaging science-based adventure that also explores friendship, team-building, overcoming personal insecurities, and other emotional themes.
An entertaining and heartwarming journey into space. (Graphic fiction. 8-13)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781250782779
Page Count: 240
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
Full of puzzles to think about, puns to groan at and references to children’s book titles, this solid, tightly plotted read...
When a lock-in becomes a reality game, 12-year-old Kyle Keeley and his friends use library resources to find their way out of Alexandriaville’s new public library.
The author of numerous mysteries for children and adults turns his hand to a puzzle adventure with great success. Starting with the premise that billionaire game-maker Luigi Lemoncello has donated a fortune to building a library in a town that went without for 12 years, Grabenstein cleverly uses the tools of board and video games—hints and tricks and escape hatches—to enhance this intricate and suspenseful story. Twelve 12-year-old winners of an essay contest get to be the first to see the new facility and, as a bonus, to play his new escape game. Lemoncello’s gratitude to the library of his childhood extends to providing a helpful holographic image of his 1968 librarian, but his modern version also includes changing video screens, touch-screen computers in the reading desks and an Electronic Learning Center as well as floor-to-ceiling bookshelves stretching up three stories. Although the characters, from gamer Kyle to schemer Charles Chiltington, are lightly developed, the benefits of pooling strengths to work together are clear.
Full of puzzles to think about, puns to groan at and references to children’s book titles, this solid, tightly plotted read is a winner for readers and game-players alike. (Mystery. 9-13)Pub Date: June 25, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-87089-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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