SPACE BOY AND THE SPACE PIRATE

Rescue plans go seriously awry when a space pirate’s captive shows no intention of leaving.

As his second thrilling adventure (Space Boy and His Dog, 2015) begins, outer-space adventurer Niko is reading a scary book about the threat of space pirates. Not long after, his cousin Sasha is apparently nabbed by just such a scurvy interplanetary knave, and it’s up to the intrepid hero and his loyal crew—co-pilot Radar (a robot) and Tag (a dog)—to rescue her from the Planet Zorg. But what’s this? Could it be that the space pirate is none other than Niko’s own tricky sister, Posh? When Niko is spotted, Posh attempts to “delete” the girls from Niko’s outer-space imaginings with a premature “THE END!” She then hijacks his spaceship, leaving Niko and crew stranded. Fortunately, you can’t keep a good spaceman down. Five brief chapters break the action into separate, exciting set pieces worthy of Tom Swift, and the characters’ bickering over who should end the story echoes the previous book’s metafictive commentary. Neubecker’s digital art crackles and pops as Niko’s spaceship exudes curlicues of red and black smoke and lands on a planet awash in reds, yellows, and oranges.

Intergalactic derring-do, and home just in time for supper.