Cosmic

>> Tuesday, February 19, 2013




Author: Frank Cottrell Boyce
Recommended Age: 10 and older
Publisher: Walden Pond Press
ISBN: 0061836834
Year Published: 2010
No. Pages: 320
Genre: Science Fiction
Main Character Gender: Male
Read & Reviewed by: Niall


 This book is about Liam, a twelve year old boy from Bootle, Liverpool, England. He is extremely tall for his age, has facial hair, and is frequently mistaken as an adult simply because he looks like one. Soon, Liam realizes he can take advantage of the situation by pretending to be grown-up. He tries taking a Porsche on a test drive and impersonates a teacher on the first day of school. When he manages to talk his way into supervising a group of kids on a trip into outer space, he wonders if he's taken it too far. Can he do the “dadly” thing and get everyone home safe?

I really enjoyed this book because it kept you in suspense. The novel opens up with Liam making a recording for his parents saying he is stuck in space. Immediately, I wondered how he got there. The whole book is a flashback about the series of events that lead him there, and I was eager to follow Liam on his misadventures.

These misadventures drew me into the book. They were always exciting and I wanted to know what kind of trouble Liam would get in. I also wanted to be part of these adventures because they were amusing. Frank Cottrell Boyce did such a good job with the writing that it made me feel like I was a character in the book. Once I finished a chapter, I wanted to read another, to see what would happen next. Boyce did a great job by taking a funny idea and exaggerating it to make it hilarious.

Part of the reason Liam goes on these adventures is to escape reality. Reality for Liam is being called a freak for being tall and looking older than his age. Liam plays video games because when he is role playing in World of Warcraft, he isn't judged for his looks or for his height. This reflects reality because many of my friends escape their lives by playing video games. This same theme is repeated with the kids he is stuck with on the spaceship. These kids escape their reality of fathers who demand perfection and exellence. With Liam, they can just be normal kids, and escape parental pressures and expectations, and be who they want to be. When Liam is on his misadventures, he often deals with situations as though they are video games. He decides to “level up” and this often makes the situation more challenging for himself.

If you enjoy a quick and hilarious read then you would enjoy this book. I would recommend Cosmic to anyone who doesn’t feel like they fit in. I rated this book a 10/10.


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