Space Detectives

This zany adventure in the gigantic space station, Starville, includes aliens from all sorts of places, like the Cow People from Neptune- or are they from Pluto? Lanky Connor knows, and energetic Ethan sometimes gets facts wrong, but is very good at the practical side of things. On Ethan’s hover-scooter, they chase a slimy purple Tufted Grotsnobbler to try retrieve a handbag for Edwina, daughter of the Supreme Governor- they fail, but are invited to the Governor’s very swish birthday party, at her house, and that’s when things get interesting. Asked for help with dressing to impress, Ethan’s Uncle Nick, an engineer who was sacked by the Governor in favour of robots, gives them smartsuits that can become any outfit they like, but they do sometimes malfunction, which is fun.

It turns out that nothing Edwina does is ever good enough for her Mum, but before they can find out more, there is an announcement that Starville is headed on a collision course straight for the Moon, so accurately that it must be sabotage! Connor’s love for the ‘thrill associated with covert activities’, which Ethan has to translate as ‘sneaking’, helps them work out a plan with the help of computer genius Edwina, but getting to the controlling computer involves going through the Zoo…It’s all great fun, as the children negotiate several potentially dangerous situations, until finally Starville is saved and the culprit is revealed. Dapo Adeola is the illustrator of the picture book Look Up! and draws, in cartoon-style, black characters (Ethan and his Uncle), white characters and various aliens with great skill. Another humorous adventure for the Space Detectives is imminent…