Monday, March 20, 2017

Cakes in Space by Philip Reeve – OPTIONAL

Reeve, Philip Cakes in Space 209 pgs. Aladdin, 2014. $12.99 Content: Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G Violence: G
Much in the vein of the new movie Passengers, this is the story of a little girl named Astra who is supposed to be in hibernation sleep, along with her family and many others, as they take a nearly 200 year space journey to their new home on another planet. But Astra is accidently awakened half way there and systems in the ship are going wrong. A food preparation machine has taken Astra’s pre-launch request too seriously and now there are mutant cakes aboard. Not only that but aliens are trying to take the ship as well. Can Astra save her family and the lives of those aboard the ship? Heavily illustrated on almost every page.
Based on the plethora of awesome illustrations, the age of the main character, and the cartoony cover, I would place this for 2-3rd grader readers, however, its SUPER SCARY. The movie Passengers is a drama for a reason, waking up on a ship and being the only one, is dark sci-fi stuff. The cakes with giant teeth feel like something out a fevered dream. I know they were meant to be funny, but its just creepy. Older readers that could handle this content, would be bored by the babyishness of the main character.

EL –OPTIONAL  Reviewer: Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author.

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