Danger! Space Pirates

by Maggie Freeman

Grade 4-6 A spaceship full of scaly Contarians from Planet Tribuline, hotly pursued by Zendatchi pirates, crashes outside a small English village. Young locals Emma, Tivvey, Max, and Neil contact the beleaguered aliens and, with the help of Dave, an adult, contrive to steal the two dozen large diamonds needed to effect repairs. The * escapes in the nick of time. Even the most uncritical readers will be bothered by the ease with which this all comes off; the children have little difficulty passing through the military cordon thrown around the *, communicating with the Contarians, or dashing off to London to rob a jewelry store, and everyone returns to normal, daily life as soon as the aliens are gone. Freeman does not establish an accurate or plausible scientific background, and she never puts the children in any dangerexcept from their own soldiers, who shoot at them and shove them around. A small, nameless robot who develops an affinity for Max' dog is the only character in the book with anything like a distinct personality. Hal Clements' Iceworld (Ballantine, 1977) and Harding's Fallen Spaceman (Bantam, 1982) are similar stories, better and more imaginatively told. John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

112 pages, Hardcover