Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce

From the Publisher

Liam has always felt a bit like he's stuck between two worlds. This is primarily because he's a twelve-year-old kid who looks like he's about thirty. Sometimes it's not so bad, like when his new principal mistakes him for a teacher on the first day of school or when he convinces a car dealer to let him take a Porsche out on a test drive. But mostly it's just frustrating, being a kid trapped in an adult world. And so he decides to flip things around. Liam cons his way onto the first spaceship to take civilians into space, a special flight for a group of kids and an adult chaperone, and he is going as the adult chaperone. It's not long before Liam, along with his friends, is stuck between two worlds again—only this time he's 239,000 miles from home.

Frank Cottrell Boyce, author of Millions and Framed, brings us a funny and touching story of the many ways in which grown-upness is truly wasted on grown-ups.

Publishers Weekly

The hero of Boyce’s enchanting third novel has grown a bit over the summer. “Seven inches is not a spurt,” his father says. “Seven inches is a mutation.” Having facial hair and the height of an adult is a nuisance for 12-year-old Liam, until he realizes he can pass for a grownup. The charade escalates into danger when Liam passes himself off as his own father and wins a trip to a new theme park in China with his friend Florida, where they will be the first to experience an out-of-this-world new thrill ride. “The Rocket” turns out to be a real rocket, and the novel opens with Liam and four other kids literally lost in space. What follows is a hilarious and heartfelt examination of “dadliness” in all its forms, including idiotic competitiveness and sports chatter, but also genuine care and concern. Luckily for the errant space cadets, Liam possesses skills honed playing World of Warcraft online—yes, here is a novel, finally, that confirms that playing computer games can be good for you. A can’t-miss offering from an author whose latest novel may be his best yet. Ages 8–12. (Jan.)

School Library Journal

Gr 5–8—Although Liam Digby is a typical kid who loves World of Warcraft video games and theme-park rides, his physical appearance is closer to age 30 than 12. Looking like an adult is challenging, but it can be useful. He learns about an experimental project to create the ultimate thrill ride—sending a select group of kids into space. He figures that he has no chance to be one of the chosen youngsters, so he decides to apply as the in-flight father chaperone. After recruiting his friend Florida to pose as his daughter, Liam has to compete with three other candidates to get the job. Although he has brushed up on his "dad skills," it isn't always easy to stay in character. The men are pompous, boring—and not above cheating to get ahead. Meanwhile, Florida has very firm notions of how her "dad" ought to behave and she isn't sure that Liam measures up. Eventually, the project director selects Liam for the space flight, precisely because of his "childlike quality," and the project kids start to look to him as a father figure—even Florida. Then, when an accident sends the rocket out of control, Liam has to assume the adult responsibility of getting them all back safely. Beneath the entertaining science-fiction adventure is a strong theme of individual maturity. While the real grown-ups are self-centered and childish, Liam takes charge with surprisingly mature courage. Readers will appreciate the sharp, realistic, and very funny dialogue as well as Liam's technique of solving real-world problems using his role-playing-game expertise.—Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL

Kirkus Reviews

Twelve-year-old Liam Digby is Completely Doomed. He's lost in outer space, incommunicado, in a Chinese spacecraft called Infinite Possibility. To further complicate matters, he's an imposter: a tall-for-his-age kid with premature facial hair pretending to be a dad so he could participate in the secret civilian space flight in the first place-a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-style contest in which the winning children get to go on the ultimate thrill ride, an actual rocket. The good news is, the view is amazing: "When you're in it, space looks like the biggest firework display ever-except it's on pause . . . . Even if you're Completely Doomed, you've got to be impressed." On the heels of the Carnegie Medal-winning Millions (2004) and Framed (2006), Cottrell Boyce has created a riveting, affecting, sometimes snortingly funny "what-if" scenario that illuminates the realities of space travel as it thoughtfully examines the nature of adulthood. Liam's musings on what it takes to be a good, responsible father are dryly comical but also charmingly earnest. A high-levity zero-gravity romp. (Science fiction. 10-14)

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