Let Me Off This Spaceship

When Tod and Billy are kidnapped by creatures from outer space, they make as much trouble as they can so that the spaceship captain will take them back to Earth

Grade 2-4-- This imaginative romp, illustrated with black-and-white drawings, has lots of appeal. When Tod and Billy are beamed aboard an alien spaceship taking off from their neighborhood park, they are naturally eager to escape. When Captain Thorst (who looks like a giant carrot) says he will return them to Earth as soon as he's completed his mission, they are relieved--until they discover that the trip will take 30 years. Tod comes up with a plan: the boys will make themselves "more trouble than they are worth" in the hope that the captain will send them back. High jinks abound--an all-alien game of touch football in the control room, Tod's attempt to make the spaceship do loops, and general subversion of the crew. Predictably, the captain gives up, and the boys are back in time for lunch. The writing is lively, and the story is full of adventure. The ship is a melting pot of aliens who are concisely and creatively described. With so much action, this is a good choice for science fiction fans who are not quite ready for Slote's My Robot Buddy (Lippincott, 1975) .
-Anne Connor, Los Angeles Pub . Lib .
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.