Cosmic

Cosmic, Frank Cottrell Boyce 

Cosmic is about 11-year-old Liam Digby who is unusually tall for his age and often mistaken for an adult. This, combined with his reckless nature, is often a recipe for disaster. He has managed to stay at the fairground without his school group, to test drive a Porsche and has impersonated a new school teacher.

He wins a prize for a Father and Son trip to the “Infinity Park”, of which the main attraction is the Rocket, a real space rocket, ready for its debut launch. Rather than taking his own father, he pretends to the father of school-mate, Florida Kirby. As things unfold, it’s clear that only the children get to go into space, so will Liam still be selected after all?

Miss 10 really enjoyed it – she said it was funny and silly. Husband enjoyed reading it aloud to her, especially when Liam finds the parenting book his Dad has been reading about talking to your kids, and he realises that all the things his Dad does to start a conversation have come from that book. The silly accidents and scrapes Liam gets into are amusing, and he teaches the other kids new games and ways to have fun, when previously they have always been pushed to only succeed academically.

Recommended for age 9-11, for kids that like a bit of fun and to imagine what it would be like if they could go into space.