The Space Disaster

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 17, 2017

Review

A hard book to categorize. McElligott uses the premise of a school for creatures like Frankenstein, a vampire girl, a Wolfboy, a robot, an insect girl, and a young Creature from the Black Lagoon to discuss nonfiction topics in a comic-book-style format. Each title in the series covers one high-interest topic. Space is the topic here with a heavy emphasis on planets. Dr. Cosmic is the teacher and no lesson ever goes exactly as planned. In the vein of Magic School Bus, the lessons become hands-on; in this case, the students are thrown into a planetarium where they must solve three challenges about which type of celestial body they are experiencing in order to return to "normal". It is not completely clear if the danger of each challenge is real or entirely simulated. The pages include very clear drawings with a lot of information. The characters are well-delineated and the action is non-stop. An appealing series for the 3rd-5th grade readers who love the combination of facts with action with the graphic novel format.

Overall Book Score: excellent