EUDORA SPACE KID

The fourth entry in Horn’s chapter book Eudora Space Kid series finds the plucky hero playing matchmaker.

Eudora Jenkins lives on a spaceship, the AstroLiner Athena, with her “perfect” older sister, Molly, her Poxian mother, who looks like “a beautiful gray wolf standing up straight,” and her Powian father, who has an “octopus-like head, arms, hands, and feet” (Eudora and Molly are human girls). One day Eudora sees the normally cheerful ship’s captain looking blue (“I’ve never seen Captain Jax sad. He sometimes looks very frustrated and yells a lot. Like when kids try and sneak onto his bridge. He yells, ‘Get this kid off my bridge!’ ”). Captain Jax soon confesses to her that he wants to ask out Eudora’s teacher, Miss Allison, but he is too shy. Being the helpful third grader that she is, Eudora suggests the pair go on a double date with Eudora and her best friend, Arnold, to make the prospect less intimidating. She quickly discovers, however, that romance is never predictable, as their double date in the ship’s cafeteria is interrupted by Dr. Jimmy Ratz, the new doctor in charge of MedBay. Dr. Ratz confesses his own feelings for Miss Allison, but, as one might expect in an early reader chapter book, the love triangle is quickly and (mostly) painlessly resolved. Interspersed throughout the book are cartoonish black-and-white illustrations by Tondora that do justice to the goofy nature of the text. The book ends with a Planetary Republic Court transcript, an interview in which Dr. Ratz hilariously objects to the real-life author’s plot decisions and takes issue with how Tondora illustrates him.

Eudora’s stories toe the line between adventure and big life lessons in a way that proves both fun and educational. Her dynamic with Molly in particular manages to evolve beyond a stereotypical contentious sibling relationship when Eudora goes to her for advice about romance. It’s then that Molly admits that she goes above and beyond to show her parents that she’s responsible so she’ll be allowed to date, a confession that deepens the sisters’ bond in an unexpected moment of tenderness in the course of an otherwise silly narrative. The straightforward plot, relatively short page count, and simple vocabulary make this ideal for new readers looking to make the jump beyond children’s books. There are deeper themes present as well: Even though the planet Qlaxonia means to take over the galaxy, Eudora’s ship welcomes those Qlaxons who have chosen to defect. This kind of acceptance of all alien species is handled in a nonchalant manner but nevertheless speaks volumes, contributing to the book’s overall message of love and friendship. There is also plenty of kid-appropriate humor, as when Eudora describes her parents’ jobs: “Mom is in charge of the brig, which is like the jail on the ship for naughty passengers. And my dad is a marine biologist. But we’re not allowed to make octopus jokes. At least not to him.” While this is technically the fourth Eudora Space Kid entry, readers new to the series won’t have a problem picking this one up first—it works perfectly well as a stand-alone book.

A fun introduction to chapter books filled with plenty of heart, humor, and handy life lessons for both kids and adults.