Their old friend Jack Havock is there in disguise, paying close attention to the lady guest Miss Beauregard (and you can imagine how happy that makes Myrtle). After a mysterious invitation arrives inviting the family to the beautiful and otherworldly grand hotel Starcross, the family picks up and leaves only to find things very mysterious indeed. At the moment decorators have descended on the old home and no one is getting any rest. Peaceably might be a bit of a stretch, actually. When last we saw our heroes, siblings Myrtle and Art were living peaceably once again in their house (which happens to be a bit of highly dangerous alien handiwork, though that’s neither here nor there), Larklight. And if sci-fi doesn’t sell then why on earth are we lucky enough to see the sequel to “Larklight” on our bookstore shelves? Yes, “Starcross” is here and fans of the intergalactic adventures of Myrtle, Art, and Jack Havock are bound to be pleased as we see them tackle their toughest enemies yet: The Moob. Reeve isn’t going to get at least a couple fans here and there. You simply cannot look me in the eye and tell me that an author as talented as Mr. Who single-handedly found a way to combine gross colonization and space travel in the seemingly effortless children’s title, “ Larklight”. This is the guy who conjured up the YA “Hungry City” chronicles. Still, there is some sci-fi that simply must turn a profit. Space may be the final frontier, but as far as kidlit publishers go, literary reaches for the outer limits aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. They say a lot of things, but this particular belief is pretty widespread.

They say science fiction for kids doesn’t sell.

Starcross by Philip Reeve, illustrated by David Wyatt.

Starcross philip reeve