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Zyrgon #1
Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left
The hilarious account of a crazy alien family's stay on earth, as their extra-terrestrial powers and ignorance of earth customs get them into trouble, and adventures.
The planet Zyrgon is ruled by the galactic police called The Law-Enforcers, who are after Mortimer because has cheated the government lottery for the 27th time in a row. His family is governed by the youngest daughter, 12-year old X, who wants to save her father from the detention centre.
The family also includes Mother, who would rather design clothing and leave all worries to her daughter X. The oldest sister Dovis is a cosmic flier who writes poetry and levitates. The youngest is a boy genius, Qwrk who is a professor at age 5.
The planet Zyrgon is ruled by the galactic police called The Law-Enforcers, who are after Mortimer because has cheated the government lottery for the 27th time in a row. His family is governed by the youngest daughter, 12-year old X, who wants to save her father from the detention centre.
The family also includes Mother, who would rather design clothing and leave all worries to her daughter X. The oldest sister Dovis is a cosmic flier who writes poetry and levitates. The youngest is a boy genius, Qwrk who is a professor at age 5.
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First published January 1, 1985
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About the author
Robin Klein
85 books76 followersWinner of the Dromkeen Medal (1991).
Robin Klein was born 28 February 1936 in Kempsey, New South Wales into a family of nine children. Leaving school at age 15, Klein worked several jobs before becoming established as a writer, having her first story published at age 16. She would go on to write more than 40 books, including Hating Alison Ashley (adapted into a feature film starring Delta Goodrem in 2005), Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left (adapted into a television series for the Seven Network in 1992), and Came Back to Show You I Could Fly (adapted into a film directed by Richard Lowenstein in 1993).
Klein’s books are hugely celebrated, having won the CBCA Children’s Book of the Year Award in both the Younger Readers and the Older Readers categories, as well as a Human Rights Award for Literature in 1989 for Came Back to Show You I Could Fly. Klein is widely considered one of Australia’s most prolific and beloved YA authors.
Robin Klein was born 28 February 1936 in Kempsey, New South Wales into a family of nine children. Leaving school at age 15, Klein worked several jobs before becoming established as a writer, having her first story published at age 16. She would go on to write more than 40 books, including Hating Alison Ashley (adapted into a feature film starring Delta Goodrem in 2005), Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left (adapted into a television series for the Seven Network in 1992), and Came Back to Show You I Could Fly (adapted into a film directed by Richard Lowenstein in 1993).
Klein’s books are hugely celebrated, having won the CBCA Children’s Book of the Year Award in both the Younger Readers and the Older Readers categories, as well as a Human Rights Award for Literature in 1989 for Came Back to Show You I Could Fly. Klein is widely considered one of Australia’s most prolific and beloved YA authors.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 10, 2015
One of my goals for 2015 was to read and review as many Robin Klein books as I could and it was wonderful starting with this old favourite of mine. I actually read the book I’d read (over and over) as a child – I think I got it for my 9th birthday and it’s sadly coverless, but otherwise completely readable!
This was the sort of sci-fi I adored as a kid (I also loved This Place Has No Atmosphere, which is still one of my favourite Paula Danziger books), but on this reread, I was struck by just how sci-fi it was. X and her family aren’t just aliens, they’re aliens with special powers (though, they usually have to study to perfect them). They then go on to use those powers on Earth, especially while trying to navigate the first few days and everything that’s required to set up their new home. It’s also interesting how those powers seem to diminish the longer they stay on Earth – they’re almost completely human by the end of the book.
I was also struck by how much story is in such a small book. Klein essentially creates two worlds – the unfamiliar alien world and the more familiar Earth world – and shows our characters navigating between them. She throws in schoolyard rivalry and difficulties with friendships, parents navigating different working roles, a genius younger brother, an aunt that you love, but you really don’t want your friends meeting and romantic longing all into one rather short book, but it never feels rushed or overwhelming.
At its core, Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left is about a family of very different people finding out who they really are. Zyrgon, their home planet, is described as claustrophobic and corrupt, with very proscribed roles for everyone. On Earth, the family discover new talents or utilise existing ones, but they have the space to learn more about themselves without someone peering in to have a look – pretty deep for a kids book.
Possibly it’s because I’ve read it so often (and because I around the age of the initial audience), but the book didn’t feel very dated to me. There’s no real pop culture references to throw you out of the book and it doesn’t rely on old technology. The calculators and reference machines the family use probably wouldn’t have to be as hidden these days (I assume they’d probably look a lot like tablets), but I felt it really has stood up well since its original publication.
I noticed last year that it can be difficult to find new copies (or ebooks, though that might have changed since I last looked) of Robin Klein books (apart from Hating Alison Ashley) which is a real pity. Her books have a very unique voice and place in Australian children’s literature and they should be celebrated more. Luckily, you can often find them second hand – particularly at big book fairs like Brisbane’s Lifeline Bookfest, but I’d love to see them made more available to young readers today.
Originall Reviewed at Subversive Reader
This was the sort of sci-fi I adored as a kid (I also loved This Place Has No Atmosphere, which is still one of my favourite Paula Danziger books), but on this reread, I was struck by just how sci-fi it was. X and her family aren’t just aliens, they’re aliens with special powers (though, they usually have to study to perfect them). They then go on to use those powers on Earth, especially while trying to navigate the first few days and everything that’s required to set up their new home. It’s also interesting how those powers seem to diminish the longer they stay on Earth – they’re almost completely human by the end of the book.
I was also struck by how much story is in such a small book. Klein essentially creates two worlds – the unfamiliar alien world and the more familiar Earth world – and shows our characters navigating between them. She throws in schoolyard rivalry and difficulties with friendships, parents navigating different working roles, a genius younger brother, an aunt that you love, but you really don’t want your friends meeting and romantic longing all into one rather short book, but it never feels rushed or overwhelming.
At its core, Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left is about a family of very different people finding out who they really are. Zyrgon, their home planet, is described as claustrophobic and corrupt, with very proscribed roles for everyone. On Earth, the family discover new talents or utilise existing ones, but they have the space to learn more about themselves without someone peering in to have a look – pretty deep for a kids book.
Possibly it’s because I’ve read it so often (and because I around the age of the initial audience), but the book didn’t feel very dated to me. There’s no real pop culture references to throw you out of the book and it doesn’t rely on old technology. The calculators and reference machines the family use probably wouldn’t have to be as hidden these days (I assume they’d probably look a lot like tablets), but I felt it really has stood up well since its original publication.
I noticed last year that it can be difficult to find new copies (or ebooks, though that might have changed since I last looked) of Robin Klein books (apart from Hating Alison Ashley) which is a real pity. Her books have a very unique voice and place in Australian children’s literature and they should be celebrated more. Luckily, you can often find them second hand – particularly at big book fairs like Brisbane’s Lifeline Bookfest, but I’d love to see them made more available to young readers today.
Originall Reviewed at Subversive Reader
June 29, 2019
1980s Australian children's books - how can you go past them? I know I'm definitely not the target audience anymore but I feel like this stands up to today's kids novels easily.
Now I have to hope I stumble onto the sequel in one of my secondhand bookstore haunts, since that's how I found this one!
Now I have to hope I stumble onto the sequel in one of my secondhand bookstore haunts, since that's how I found this one!
October 22, 2012
I really liked this book...even though I read it after I saw the tv-series wich I LOVED.
Want to read
June 25, 2019There is more than one book?
February 29, 2020
Old favorite. Still a good read.
April 15, 2020
Light, easy to read book. Extremely enjoyable.
September 23, 2020
I bloody loved this book as a child
November 23, 2016
3.5 stars.
I probably would have enjoyed this book much more if I hadn't completely forgotten I'd borrowed it the day before it was due and squished my reading of it in between studying for assessments (yes, yes, I have ace organisational skills), because the clearest emotion I can recall from the experience of reading this book is a vague anxiety over editing. Sorry book!
Other than that, I do remember finding this very charming. It's about aliens learning to settle down and become a normal middle-class Australian family (at times this felt very coded as an immigration narrative, which gave some of the story details a slightly weird feel), but the heart of the story is a young girl slowly realising that her entire world has been upended, and struggling to figure out who she is and her new place in it, in her own typically prickly, bossy, stubborn, narrow-minded way (Klein and I seem to be in agreement that insufferable girl protagonists are the best kind of protagonists). This book is not an action book, but a lovely coming-of-age/family hijinks comedy; it's a genre of sci-fi that I like to call mundane sci-fi, where the futuristic/science-fictional world is treated as just a backdrop to the main heart of the story: the characters and the relationships between them.
I also remember having a dawning realisation while reading this book that about 90% of what I consider good prose is probably attributable to me reading and imprinting on Hating Alison Ashley in primary school. I just . . . I love how Robin Klein writes! It's crisp, confident and natural with these wry offhand observations whose comedy feels completely unforced. I haven't figured out the trick of that yet . . .
Oh, and just recently I found out that there was a TV series made of this, and was completely charmed by the first episode. People in pulpy silver sci-fi clothes with Australian accents! Bronson from Round the Twist is a five-year-old genius scientist! It's adorable.
I probably would have enjoyed this book much more if I hadn't completely forgotten I'd borrowed it the day before it was due and squished my reading of it in between studying for assessments (yes, yes, I have ace organisational skills), because the clearest emotion I can recall from the experience of reading this book is a vague anxiety over editing. Sorry book!
Other than that, I do remember finding this very charming. It's about aliens learning to settle down and become a normal middle-class Australian family (at times this felt very coded as an immigration narrative, which gave some of the story details a slightly weird feel), but the heart of the story is a young girl slowly realising that her entire world has been upended, and struggling to figure out who she is and her new place in it, in her own typically prickly, bossy, stubborn, narrow-minded way (Klein and I seem to be in agreement that insufferable girl protagonists are the best kind of protagonists). This book is not an action book, but a lovely coming-of-age/family hijinks comedy; it's a genre of sci-fi that I like to call mundane sci-fi, where the futuristic/science-fictional world is treated as just a backdrop to the main heart of the story: the characters and the relationships between them.
I also remember having a dawning realisation while reading this book that about 90% of what I consider good prose is probably attributable to me reading and imprinting on Hating Alison Ashley in primary school. I just . . . I love how Robin Klein writes! It's crisp, confident and natural with these wry offhand observations whose comedy feels completely unforced. I haven't figured out the trick of that yet . . .
Oh, and just recently I found out that there was a TV series made of this, and was completely charmed by the first episode. People in pulpy silver sci-fi clothes with Australian accents! Bronson from Round the Twist is a five-year-old genius scientist! It's adorable.
October 22, 2023
I remember reading this book when I was seven years old and writing a book report about it. When I saw that familiar cover (of the family group with Dovis/Astrella flying over them) at a book sale I picked it up for a re-read.
I believe I liked it as a child, but I found it hard going to read this time around. It was so very peculiar, with lots of things that were unexplained - like why do these aliens look exactly like human beings, and how do they have the ability for both space travel and time travel when their culture is apparently so empty-minded, selfish, and silly?
I think it probably works best to read it superficially - as a story about a girl (X/Charlotte) who is overburdened with responsibilities and needs to learn to unwind and enjoy life. There are lots of basic inversions of our expectations (e.g. on Zyrgon, fathers don't work, mothers do, children can run the household and boss their parents about (if they are Organisers) and be professors too. Everybody finds something they really love here on Earth - Dovis/Astrella becomes more grounded (literally), Qwrk/George learns to love the violin more than abstruse knowledge and esteem, Hecla has a chance to rest (and achieve a lifelong dream), Mother is happy designing clothing, although I think the best change is probably to X's father, who learns to be a cook not a crook.
I didn't realise there was a sequel to this book, and I never knew it was a TV series either (until reading more about it here on GR). It might be interesting to check both out.
I believe I liked it as a child, but I found it hard going to read this time around. It was so very peculiar, with lots of things that were unexplained - like why do these aliens look exactly like human beings, and how do they have the ability for both space travel and time travel when their culture is apparently so empty-minded, selfish, and silly?
I think it probably works best to read it superficially - as a story about a girl (X/Charlotte) who is overburdened with responsibilities and needs to learn to unwind and enjoy life. There are lots of basic inversions of our expectations (e.g. on Zyrgon, fathers don't work, mothers do, children can run the household and boss their parents about (if they are Organisers) and be professors too. Everybody finds something they really love here on Earth - Dovis/Astrella becomes more grounded (literally), Qwrk/George learns to love the violin more than abstruse knowledge and esteem, Hecla has a chance to rest (and achieve a lifelong dream), Mother is happy designing clothing, although I think the best change is probably to X's father, who learns to be a cook not a crook.
I didn't realise there was a sequel to this book, and I never knew it was a TV series either (until reading more about it here on GR). It might be interesting to check both out.
March 13, 2020
Periodically, I find myself reaching for childhood favourites to assuage my adult anxieties with a good dose of nostalgia. And when I hit such a patch at the beginning of this week, this was the first book that came to mind. I loved it as a child, lapped up the TV series (which I'm delighted to see is now on YouTube for bingeing) and adored the book just as much this third time round. The story is captivating and the characters utterly charming, but what impresses me most as an adult reader is the way Robin Klein never talks down to her young readers; there's more than a few words in this book that might have the average adult reaching for a dictionary! It's an extremely well-written book that I actually find more rewarding to read now, as an adult, because of its warmth and sophistication and humour. Along with Emily Rodda's Finders Keepers and The Timekeeper, this will continue to be a stalwart on my shelves and one I'll return to again and again whenever I need a pick-me-up.
July 28, 2009
The story of a family of aliens who come to earth to escape from tax authorities on their own planet. They have a hard time fitting in and accustoming themselves to earth customs, with often hilarious results. Added to this is that nearly every member of the family is extremely eccentric. The father is a gambler who uses alien technology to stay one step ahead of the earthly betting systems, the mother is a fashion designer whose outfits are literally out of this world (as is the material she makes them from), the youngest child is a genius who at the earth age of 6 was offered a full professorship at his home planet's university, the oldest sister is a stunningly good looking and stunningly vacuous girl and their aunt is a hybrid sheep farmer. The middle child, named X, is the head of the family and its 'organiser' and has the difficult job of trying to make her parents and siblings slip seamlessly into earth life. Funny for a child about 10 or 12.
September 5, 2014
9/5/14 I hate the Goodreads app for constantly eating my reviews.
Anyway, this is one of my childhood favorites, brought back with me from Malaysia in hopes that I'll eventually be able to share it with my kids. It's one of the few books I'll bother to reread every so often. It helps that it's a slim volume, but I would never bother if it weren't also a terrific story. Despite being about aliens, it's a deeply human (and very funny) tale of family life and trying to keep it all together. I love Robin Klein, and this, I think, is my favorite of her books.
Anyway, this is one of my childhood favorites, brought back with me from Malaysia in hopes that I'll eventually be able to share it with my kids. It's one of the few books I'll bother to reread every so often. It helps that it's a slim volume, but I would never bother if it weren't also a terrific story. Despite being about aliens, it's a deeply human (and very funny) tale of family life and trying to keep it all together. I love Robin Klein, and this, I think, is my favorite of her books.
April 29, 2009
Funny how I was never that fond of this, until I saw the TV series! I guess the sound of it didn't interest me because I've never been that big on aliens, but then I saw the show and they weren't too crazy out-there.
August 29, 2012
Hmm, am Anfang zieht es sich etwas: dass die Familie sich gegen die Organisation von X sträubt, hatte ich dann schon schneller verstanden. Irgendwann kommt die Geschichte aber dann in Gang, und dann ist es OK. Eine witzige Idee jedenfalls und ein nettes Kinderbuch.
July 10, 2012
This was one of my favourite books when I was a kid.
January 3, 2017
the second real book I ever read.
It scared me, cos it had no pictures at all.
This might have put me off until 2003, I can't recall.
It scared me, cos it had no pictures at all.
This might have put me off until 2003, I can't recall.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews