Space Rats

by Jacqueline Kirk

Orphaned and stranded on an unfamiliar planet, Troy and his brother Tristan long to be back among the stars on their ship Star Chaser. Along with some friends they make a daring escape and manage to outrun their pursuers.
Visiting a wonderful and exciting space station they are horrified to find out that the very man who was responsible for their parents deaths was now following them - the dreaded space pirate Red Raven! Trying to lose him in the vast expanse of space their little ship is no match for Red Raven's warship!

ebook

First published April 1, 2011

About the author

I live in the south west of Scotland. I grew up with a great love for reading and it was only a matter of time before I started writing my own stories! : )

Website
http://www.jacquelinekirk.com

Youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYop...

Amazon.co.uk
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jacqueline-K...

Amazon.com
amazon.com/author/jacquelinekirk

Smashwords
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...

Reviews

[megan jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Space rats

I am writing about this book talk space rats tell you about space. I think very good to ready for bed time. I think very good for kids and adum to leaning about space by the book about it.

[Lizzie · Rating 1 out of 5]

A cute story but the basic premise is unbelievable. Even though it is written for the 8+ year olds, I know that my children at that age would not have suspended their disbelief enough to accept that a 16 year old and his little brother along with 4 of their friends from ages 10 to 16 could repair a spaceship, escape from a children's home, operate the ship on their own including piloting and landing, and then be allowed to continue on their adventures by the intergalactic police. A teenage girl hacking computers is one of the few characters young readers would find realistic. The characters ' actions and adventures in shopping for supplies and exploring a space station and their antics to escape their former "headmaster" we're more typical behavior and fun to read. The story itself presents a positive view of friendship, self-esteem, helping others, and the kindness of strangers despite their differences without sounding moralistic.

Unfortunately, the author's language skills and lack of editing really detract from the story. Since children learn many of their grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure skills from reading, I truly dislike providing poorly written books to children. I believe authors who choose to write for children and young teens have a larger responsibility to apply good writing skills so that our children learn properly.

I start my reviews based on 3 stars and as I read the book add or detract based on the content. In this instance, the lack of belief in the story took away 1/2 star and the poor writing and editing reduced my rating by 1 star. I debated between rounding up or down as that put it at 1 1/2 stars. So on Amazon I rounded up and Goodreads rounded down.

I obtained this for free through Amazon. I enjoy children and young adult science fiction, which genre I have been reading since I was 12; having introduced my children to it at an early age, they enjoy it as well; and with grandchildren entering the reading age, I look for positive books to pass on to them. I would not buy this book.