Like his fellow lunarnauts—otherwise known as Moonies—living on Moon Base Alpha, twelve-year-old Dashiell Gibson is famous the world over for being one of the first humans to live on the moon.
And he’s bored out of his mind. Kids aren’t allowed on the lunar surface, meaning they’re trapped inside the tiny moon base with next to nothing to occupy their time—and the only other kid Dash’s age spends all his time hooked into virtual reality games.
Then Moon Base Alpha’s top scientist turns up dead. Dash senses there’s foul play afoot, but no one believes him. Everyone agrees Dr. Holtz went onto the lunar surface without his helmet properly affixed, simple as that. But Dr. Holtz was on the verge of an important new discovery, Dash finds out, and it’s a secret that could change everything for the Moonies—a secret someone just might kill to keep…
This book was fun. Starting from page one it was laugh-out-loud hilarious. The main character (who was the narrator of the novel) had such a funny, entertaining and sometimes sarcastic voice. It was hard to stop reading once I started.
I know next to nothing about space travel, but all the info about how to live in space had me convinced! Explanations were sufficiently informative without being overly technical or condescending. It gave me vibes of The Martian and Artemis (except — I actually understood the rationale behind how things worked.)
The mystery was well-paced. There was always a sense of intrigue that made me want to read more. I loved following along and trying to predict who the murderer was.
Speaking of the murderer — usually I have a pretty good sense about what plot turns would come up, but I had no idea about this one. The revelation of the murderer was followed by another plot twist that knocked me out of the water! Whoa I didn’t see that coming!!
Overall it was a super quick, fun and light read!
There were a lot of characters in this novel, and everyone besides the main character was kind of a caricature without much depth. It would’ve loved for more focus on characters and relationships in this novel, even if it meant reducing the size of the cast.
3/5 fishies!
This was a fun and speedy read. Definitely recommended if you are looking for a lighthearted MG mystery with a good dose of humour!!
Do you want to live on the moon? What are your favourite books that take place in outer space?
Photo by Benjamin Voros on Unsplash
SOPHIE LI 
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