It certainly did prove how bad an idea it was of Dr Drax's to send just children into space - they messed up their task because they were fighting over who got to press the green button. Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth was shortlisted for the 2017 CILIP Carnegie Medal and selected for the inaugural WHSmith Tom Fletcher Book Club. Even though it is not likely that a middle school boy can pose as an adult and get launched into space on a crazy mission, I was so absorbed in the story that I believed it could happen! As this is mostly Liam’s reflection of the events that led him to be in charge of a space shuttle, there is a bit of jumping between ‘present-day Liam’ talking about his view of the Earth, and the Liam of the past, in the months leading up to the adventure. Then, if you’re successful, the ‘Dad’ amongst the children, what if you realise all this role playing is not Cosmic at all, but very scary?

something, possibly bad, because all through the book you know that these five children are stuck in space, orbiting the moon, completely cut off from Earth and home and their parents. Even though he’s only 12, Liam is constantly mistaken for an adult, but he’s still a kid who loves playing computer games and riding rollercoasters.These jumps between past and the present day weren’t too difficult to follow and definitely made the book more engaging. It's funny, it's creative, it's surprisingly poignant, it's smart, it's clever and it's consistently surprising.

One lesson the World of Warcraft teaches you is that if you want to succeed on the next level, you need to acquire new skills. Yourself and Bob are much cherished in our booky world and I personally really appreciate everything that you do.I've been reading a lot of books with my son lately and this one is the best we've read in a long time by far. Well as an elementary school librarian children's literature is my business (and fortunately for me also my passion).

Yesterday a parent came over to tell me how impressed she was by the book fair and that you did a fabulous job of selling the books to the children first. Imagine that your growth spurt is so extreme that people mistake you for a teacher rather than a student! A group of Dads and their chosen child end up at the theme park in China training for the greatest ride ever, a shot into space and back. Fantasy is interspersed with reality in this funny and touching story, which ultimately celebrates parents and the love they give.Prez has one summer to find ten things about the earth that make it worth saving - but can he do it? Having worked with director Danny Boyle on Millions, Danny asked Frank to be part of the team creating the Opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics. When you remember how much practice Liam has at pretending to be an adult, and of having adults who know he's a kid always expecting him to behave better, "big lad like you", it's not all that surprising. Convincing celebrity-gossip-obsessed Florida is only part of the problem: when they arrive their host, Dr Drax, tells them that it is the four children who will be going into space.