The graphic novel Space Chasers V01 by Leland Melvin, Joe Caramagna, and Alison Acton (illustrator) is probably one of the most unbelievable books I have recently read. Oh sure, ages strong 8 and 9 to aged 13 readers are going to LOVE it, because it is about kids and the cool thing they get to do: save the world by screwing up and going to space! Yeah I would have loved this too at that age. I mean, we are kids! I mean we’re awesome! Heck we could have flown to the moon without 15 months of training to be an astronaut! We could do a space walk with our eyes closed, two minutes of air left with space trash and meteors coming at us no problems at all! It would be a moon walk for the ages, for sure.
Kids are wonderfully dumb.
But if you want to capture that enthusiasm with reading, you should have your child read this graphic novel. It is about science, space, kid power, and “people like me.” There is diversity and representation. One character is a kid from Elizabethtown, NJ. She lives with her brother as there are issues with her parents. She loves mechanics. There is the football player who adores his father, but wouldn’t do anything to embarrass him, like doing those “egghead” things like science. A young man from Georgia who has cerebral palsy and wants to show that he has no limitations. A young girl who loves art, science and astronomy and has the energy to show it to you how passionate she is about them. And finally another girl from Elizabethtown who has a bit of background with her town/classmate, Kia. These radically different kids come together to make up the first Kids in Space trip where they are going to show the world that just because you’re in middle school doesn’t mean you won’t save the world.
We focus on three of the kids, the other two set this adventure out, but will probably show up in book two. This book is suitable for readers who like a bit of fantastic with their real setting stories.
