Moon Attack: Jake in Space Book One (Candice Lemon-Scott, New Frontier)

Jake is being sent to remedial space car driving classes on the moon. He’s so embarrassed, and he’s sure he’ll be bored too; there’s nothing to do on the moon, after all. But he makes some friends right away, and flying with them turns out to be kind of fun. There’s something weird about one of the other kids, though. The way he talks is strange and mechanical, he seems to fly perfectly, and why is he sneaking out onto the surface of the moon at night? Is the moon in danger? Moon Attack is the first book in a new series called ‘Jake in Space’, aimed at reluctant boy readers. It should be pretty successful at appealing to that demographic, with its simple space-car adventure-mystery, silly futuristic details and large print. It’s girl-friendly too, with a couple of brave and active girls rounding out Jake’s team of four space-car friends. More advanced readers and those at the upper end of primary school might get impatient with the simple plot and characterisation, but it should be a fun and engaging read for middle-primary readers who enjoy easy-to-race-through chapter books about kids driving space cars and saving the day.

Jarrah Moore is a primary literacy editor at Cengage Learning Australia