Bright, pleasant sci-fi for kids.
In Samuelson’s debut novel, two young cousins—levelheaded Nick and rambunctious Sid, both sons of elite astronauts and both students at the Junior Astronaut Academy near the town of Waterbeach—blast off into adventure in the not-too-distant future.
The boys’ fathers, who left on a secret and very dangerous mission into deep space, have gone missing. Nick and Sid race out into the void with the newly built spaceship Destiny Copernicus 2 to try to find the vanished astronauts and help them complete their vital mission. Along the way, they face plenty of excitement and colorful dangers, from Nick’s crush on Veronica Appleyard, niece of the National Space Institute’s commanding officer, to the misadventures of wild Sid and the strange wonders of an unknown planet orbiting directly opposite Earth—“Earth-180.” The two kids go from cadets to explorers, making contact with a strange alien race they call Orangies—both friendly and rogue—and use brains and brawn to help save the day. The upbeat, charming book has a straightforward plot that keeps the reader’s attention from start to finish. Characters are simple but sympathetic, with a level of development to make them distinguishable and entertaining. There’s just enough romance to add zest to the narrative, too. The science is lightweight and not fit for this world. For instance, after spending time with the Orangies, a flummoxed professor writes: “How the Orangies harness gravity to their will, I cannot say, and I should not presume I could ever understand. Based on my time with them, I now believe gravity is faster than light—that it is instantaneous—and distance, however great, offers no obstacle to it.” The counter-Earth concept is classic sci-fi, but here, for a change, it’s not a dystopia or a war story. Text is remarkably clean in copy editing and proofreading, with nary a typo, while a bit of bathroom humor and light swearing might appeal to preteen sensibilities. Plus, there’s more to come: this is just the first book in a planned series.
Bright, pleasant sci-fi for kids.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2014
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 238
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A joyful celebration.
Families in a variety of configurations play, dance, and celebrate together.
The rhymed verse, based on a song from the Noodle Loaf children’s podcast, declares that “Families belong / Together like a puzzle / Different-sized people / One big snuggle.” The accompanying image shows an interracial couple of caregivers (one with brown skin and one pale) cuddling with a pajama-clad toddler with light brown skin and surrounded by two cats and a dog. Subsequent pages show a wide array of families with members of many different racial presentations engaging in bike and bus rides, indoor dance parties, and more. In some, readers see only one caregiver: a father or a grandparent, perhaps. One same-sex couple with two children in tow are expecting another child. Smart’s illustrations are playful and expressive, curating the most joyful moments of family life. The verse, punctuated by the word together, frequently set in oversized font, is gently inclusive at its best but may trip up readers with its irregular rhythms. The song that inspired the book can be found on the Noodle Loaf website.
A joyful celebration. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22276-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
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