Review #92: Zita the Spacegirl

Dad:  What did you guys think of Zita the Spacegirl?
Kids: (cheering)  Woohoo!  Oh yeah!
Dad:  Why did she get all these cheers?
Gracie (age 10):  Because it's a cool book!
Dad:  And how about the author?
Gracie:  Ben Hatke, you rock!  Woo!
Dad:  We saw videos of him on his website.
Isaac (age 12):  He can jump through flaming hoops of fire!
Gracie:  And I saw this really detailed, really pretty painting on his website.  It was a sword and a stack of books and a shell.
Dad:  So, tell me about this book.
Isaac:  It's awesome and everyone should read it.
Dad:  What was awesome about it?
Lily (age 8):  Space Monsters.
Elijah (age 5):  All these awesome aliens and monster guys.
Isaac:  I love graphic novels.
Gracie:  The book is all about this girl named Zita.  She and her friend Joseph find a meteoroid with a button in it.  Zita pushes the button, and her friend gets sucked into an alien world.
Elijah:  He went to the space-guy world where there is all kinds of alien things and monsters and things like that.  Then Zita had to go in there to save him.
Lily:  She has to save him from the guys with long black arms that capture people.
Isaac:  An asteroid is going to hit the alien planet, so Zita has to find Joseph and get back to earth before that world explodes.
Dad:  So what's most fun about this book?
Isaac:  All the little alien people.
Gracie:  They are so cute!
Isaac:  They are curious little creatures.
Dad:  Tell me about some of the friends Zita makes.
Gracie:  Mouse is a giant mouse that can't talk -- so instead he's got this little machine that pops out these little paper messages, like - chick-ching.
Elijah:  It's the hugest mouse in the whole world.  Zita travels by riding on it.
Dad:  Would that be fun?  Would you like to ride on a giant mouse?
Elijah:  No way!  It might go too fast.
Dad:  Who was your favorite guy Lily?
Lily:  I like Strong-Strong.  He's big.  Really tall.  And strong.
Elijah:  He's a monster.  But not too smart.
Lily:  No, he's not too smart, but I want him for a friend.  I want him to be my friend.
Isaac:  I want to tell you who my favorite guy is.  It is One.  One is this super battle robot.
Elijah:  I think he's a cherry.  Because he is round and red.  He flies.
Dad:  He's a flying cherry robot?
Elijah:  Hee hee, Yeah!
Isaac:  Actually, there are lots of these super battle robots that are like super guards.  There is a One, a Five, and an Eight.  They each have a special power.  Five shoots a tracking beacon, and all these barnacle bombs fly out of him.  Eight's body can open up, and he has all these razor sharp slashers.  And One has a laser.
Elijah:  And there is another robot named Randy.  He squeaks.  He's not a brave robot.  Look on the back cover...  He's a scaredy cat.
Gracie:  Randy is a nervous wreck.
Dad:  My favorites were the little whacker guys.
Gracie:  Those are the cute ones.
Lily:  They are little blue men with giant sticks that whack people.
Dad:  They are hilarious.  I love them.
Gracie:  My favorite guy was Piper.  He's pretty awesome.  He's handsome.  He's very handsome.  If he were real, I would definitely have a crush on him.  He's handsome, and he's got this cool magic flute that makes people dance and get so tired that they fall asleep.
Dad:  Would you say he is a good guy?
Gracie:  Kinda.  He's kind of someone who just wants his ship fueled up so he can leave.  But toward the end he starts being on Zita's side.  Hey - there's a story arc with Piper!
Dad:  Good phrase!  Tell me about it.
Gracie:  At first he only cares about himself... and money... and fuel for his ship... and getting off the planet before it explodes.  But by the end he really, really puts his life on the line for Zita.
Dad:  So there are lots of cool creatures in this book.
Gracie:  It is a collection of rather strange friends.
Isaac:  And exciting adventures.
Dad:  Do you hope there will be more Zita books?
Gracie:  I think there might be more stories coming.  Because it says Book One on the cover, so there's got to be more.  And Zita never got home!  She has to go home still.

Mouse and Zita, by Lily

Piper, by Gracie

cast of characters, by Isaac

Strong-Strong and the whacker guys, by Elijah

Author/Illustrator: Ben Hatke
Watch: the author jump through fire
Published, 2011: First Second
Like it?  Here it is