jasratchford's review
wanted a quick train read and this is a childhood fave. it didn’t disappoint. lovely nostalgic times reading it. fun, heartwarming, PACY!!! middle grade books have my heart tbh !
caroparr's review against another edition
5.0
I liked this SO MUCH. Okay, the plot was a bit improbable but the characters were great, and the surprise at the end was fun.
revanchists's review against another edition
4.0
Hilarious, inspirational and adventurous, so yeah, I enjoyed it.
carmenhartjensen's review against another edition
3.0
The girls and I listened to this in the car. I ended up liking it by the end. It really is a pro-dad book which was nice to read.
sophiesyareads's review against another edition
3.0
This was an interesting book. It was British so I didn’t get some of the jokes, but it also didn’t make any sense in the ending. Just saying.
amandabock's review against another edition
5.0
"I'm not exactly in the Lake District."
This is how we meet Liam, a twelve-year old boy who looks much older. So much so that he is continuously mistaken for an adult. So much so that he finds himself in outer space, with a bunch of kids, who think he's a dad. And now everything has gone wrong and it's up to him to get them all home safely again. It's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with a bit of Space Odyssey and World of Warcraft thrown in.
One of the things that I love about Boyce's books is how he includes very philosophical ideas but makes them very accessible. In this case, he explores the psychological implications of seeing the earth from space with the concept of "dadliness," what makes a person a parent. Boyce balances these potentially contrived, sappy topics with pitch-perfect humor. He is a master of setting up scenes and writing dialogue.
This is one of my favorite books of this year, and I shall give it to everyone I see.
--Response of first reading (May 2010)--
Love! I would be reading this on the train and be very sad when my stop came and I had to put it away. How could I have forgotten how much I love this author? I even want to go back and reread the others now.
I love how Liam figures out his course of action by comparing life to World of Warcraft levels (note to self: have a WoW player read this and comment).
I love how the story is a kind of new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Sort of. Kinda.
I did think that Liam managed to be very grown-up through the entire second half, and perhaps could have shown more of the boy who would probably be freaking out. But I didn't really care.
Florida cracks me up. I know so many kids just like that.
This is how we meet Liam, a twelve-year old boy who looks much older. So much so that he is continuously mistaken for an adult. So much so that he finds himself in outer space, with a bunch of kids, who think he's a dad. And now everything has gone wrong and it's up to him to get them all home safely again. It's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with a bit of Space Odyssey and World of Warcraft thrown in.
One of the things that I love about Boyce's books is how he includes very philosophical ideas but makes them very accessible. In this case, he explores the psychological implications of seeing the earth from space with the concept of "dadliness," what makes a person a parent. Boyce balances these potentially contrived, sappy topics with pitch-perfect humor. He is a master of setting up scenes and writing dialogue.
This is one of my favorite books of this year, and I shall give it to everyone I see.
--Response of first reading (May 2010)--
Love! I would be reading this on the train and be very sad when my stop came and I had to put it away. How could I have forgotten how much I love this author? I even want to go back and reread the others now.
I love how Liam figures out his course of action by comparing life to World of Warcraft levels (note to self: have a WoW player read this and comment).
I love how the story is a kind of new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Sort of. Kinda.
I did think that Liam managed to be very grown-up through the entire second half, and perhaps could have shown more of the boy who would probably be freaking out. But I didn't really care.
Florida cracks me up. I know so many kids just like that.
alysona's review against another edition
5.0
I had really enjoyed Million and Framed, so I expected to like this. But really I loved it! Liam is a terrific character and I had no troubles getting caught up in this improbable tale. This should be on the top of our summer reading recommendations this year as well as in lots of best of lists for 2010!
book_nut's review against another edition
Yeah, not buying the premise and the Worlds of Warcraft references are turning me off. A 12 to 14 year old boy would love it, though.
alexthepink's review against another edition
5.0
Hilarious and touching. A perfect middle-grade book.
mousie_books's review against another edition
4.0
Liam is a twelve year old boy who often gets mistaken for a thirty-something adult. For all its disadvantages, it leads to some interesting possibilities when he realizes he can pose as his friend's dad... and culminates in a journey into space where he is suppose to be the adult supervision.
Cosmic is hilarious, fast-paced, and sweet. I really liked the over-the-top supporting characters (think, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and the fluffy adventure.
The semi-broken World of Warcraft references bugged me. Although much of the terminology is there, it is pretty obvious the author has not (substantially) played the game even if Liam is only suppose to have a level 40 character (Night Elf healer of some sort). There were 10 million subscribers in 2008. It seems like something that could have been easily sanity checked...
Cosmic is hilarious, fast-paced, and sweet. I really liked the over-the-top supporting characters (think, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and the fluffy adventure.
The semi-broken World of Warcraft references bugged me. Although much of the terminology is there, it is pretty obvious the author has not (substantially) played the game even if Liam is only suppose to have a level 40 character (Night Elf healer of some sort). There were 10 million subscribers in 2008. It seems like something that could have been easily sanity checked...