Spaceboy by David Walliams

Ruth is orphaned, sent to live on a farm with her great aunt, who hates children, especially Ruth. It is America, in the 1960s. The space race is on, and Ruth looks to stars every night, as she used to with her loving parents. They always encouraged her to reach for the stars. And then, one quiet night, she sees something through her telescope, moving fast - and then it crash lands in the cornfield! Rushing to the crash site, she discovers a survivor - Spaceboy! She then finds herself launched into a thrilling adventure, maybe even a friendship that will span the universe.

This story was a non-stop adventure, from page to page, chapter to chapter. Readers follow Ruth through her discovery of, and attempt to hide, Spaceboy, and then their attempt to evade the authorities. The exciting action just kept rolling on, with humour and mishaps, thus readers will be entertained, unable to put the book down. Younger readers will be kept engaged with changes to the style and formatting, with words emphasized, illustrations depicting characters, even sections being turned into graphic novel format. Characters are well described, and behave exactly as you would expect given their descriptions. While there are historical aspects that are true, the author has used creative license for this fun novel, and readers can learn more about the space race at the end of the book with a brief historical overview of the events and parties involved. Would suit fans of Roald Dahl, and Liz Pichon's Brilliant World of Tom Gates series.

Themes: Science Fiction, Relationships, America, Space Race, Russia, Secrets, Lies, Life from other planets, Historical Fiction.

Melanie Pages