Category Archives: Children’s Science Fiction

One Giant Leap – Review

Litercurious Book Review

One Giant Leap - Ben Gartner
TitleOne Giant Leap
AuthorBen Gartner
PublisherCrescent Vista Press (February 21, 2023)
FormatKindle, Hardcover
Pages304
GenreChildren’s Action & Adventure / Children’s Sci-Fi /
Children’s Dystopian / Children’s Survival Story
LanguageEnglish
ASIN#B0BHRDBKZ2

AUTHOR

To find out more about Ben Gartner and what he is up too, check out his website here.

SYNOPSIS

Written mainly through the eyes of Fin, the teenage main character, One Giant Leap is his story. He starts by talking about how he is drifting through space with a leak in his suit and water from his cooling system seeping around his face and mouth. He knows he is about to die drifting forever in the dark void, but then he goes back in time and tells the story of just how and why he ended up in this particular predicament.

Four teenage kids, Fin, David, Kal and Mae, win the ultimate worldwide competition and the grand prize: an all expenses paid trip into outer space!

After all of the physicals, psychological assessments and training; Fin, David, Kal and Mae are on their way to the International Space Station (ISS). Mission plan: stop and resupply the ISS, then move on to the Gateway outpost orbiting the moon to drop off two astronauts, and then slingshot around the moon and head back to earth.

After visiting the ISS the four kids move back into their launch vehicle, Aether, to await the adults; then BAM! The whole space station is turned topsy turvey and sent spinning out of orbit. With holes in the space station, air leaking out and the whole thing spinning uncontrollably the kids are on their own. Separated from the flight crew and their guardians, the kids have to work together and think fast to save themselves and hopefully, the adults.

Will they make it? Can they save themselves? What about the adults trapped on the ISS slowly falling out of orbit to burn up in Earths atmosphere? How long can the astronauts survive on the ISS with all of the oxygen slowly leaking out into space? Can Fin, David, Kal and Mae save themselves? Can they save the adults? Can Mae even fly a spaceship? Will Fin’s body drift forever in the cold dark void of space?

CONCLUSION

One Giant Leap is Space Camp (1986) meets Gravity (2013). It is an intriguing tale of heroism, overcoming insurmountable odds, faith and courage. Ben Gartner has once again written a story that ignites the imagination and fuels the passion.

It is obvious that Ben did a lot of research for this book. The story plot is solid and the characters are well rounded and established. The interplay between each character is stable and believable. There is plenty of suspense, thrills, sorrow, excitement, danger and mystery in the story to keep the reader riveted to the book.

I not only enjoyed the story, but I really enjoyed all the little tidbits of education that is strewn throughout the book. Ben includes a section at the end that separates the facts from fiction and a glossary. He discusses future space missions and mentions some of the important milestones in space exploration. This book is not only enthralling, but it is educational as well. I highly recommend this book to young and old alike.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Ben Gartner and Crescent Vista Press for affording me the opportunity to review One Giant Leap.

OTHER BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR

Frances and the Monster – review

Litercurious Book Review

TitleFrances and the Monster
AuthorRefe Tuma
PublisherHarperCollins (August 23, 2022)
FormatKindle, Audiobook, Hardcover, Audio CD
Pages352 pages
GenreChildren’s Robot Fiction Books / Children’s
Spine-Chilling Horror / Children’s Mystery,
Detective, & Spy
LanguageEnglish
ISBN 10/130063085763 / 978-0063085763

AUTHOR

Refe Tuma is an author in his own right, and a Co-author with his wife. He lives in Kansas City with his family and their plastic dinosaurs.

SYNOPSIS

Frances is a super-smart scientist little girl. Her mother and father are great scientist and she wants to be just like them, only better. Raised in an overprotective environment, Frances couldn’t even leave the house. She spent her days studying and doing experiments with her mother and father. When her parents leave to go to a symposium; Frances, left on her own with just the robot nanny, finds her grandfathers secret laboratory.

Studying her grandfathers notes, she quickly picks up his experiments where he left off. She wants to succeed where her grandfather failed. She uses the robot body from her nanny to enhance the cadaver left in the laboratory. Then BOOM! The monster awakens! He goes on a rampage and escapes the laboratory and starts to terrorize the town. Frances has to catch him and bring him back. What follows is an adventure through a town she has never been in. Being chased by the local constable, Frances has to stay one step ahead of him while trying to track down and capture the monster. Can she stay out of jail? Will she capture the monster before it kills someone? The chase takes her through seedy alleyways, in the sewers and over the rooftops. Her adventure has just begun.

CONCLUSION

Frances and the Monster is targeted at kids 8-12 years old, but will appeal to most ages. It is a high paced thriller with a bit of horror; especially at the end. The prose is appropriate for anyone 8 or older, while the plot is both interesting and engaging.

Refe has done a great job with this story. I was unable to put it down and almost finished the entire book in one sitting. The last 2 chapters really threw me for a loop. The plot twist and the horror element was surprising and disturbing (in a good way).

I definitely recommend this book. If you like thrills, suspense, excitement and a little horror, then you will love this book.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Refe Tuma, NetGalley and HarperCollins for affording me the opportunity to review Frances and the Monster.

Jubilee – Review

Jubilee: The First Therapy Horse and and Olympic Dream is a book about courage, determination, overcoming insurmountable obstacles, and a love for horses. This book is an inspiration to all…

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The Eye of RA – Review

Litercurious Book Review

TITLEThe Eye of Ra ( Book 1 “Eye of Ra” series)
AUTHORBen Gartner
PUBLISHERCrescent Vista Press (February 1, 2020)
FORMATKindle, Hardcover, Paperback
FILE / PAGES3864 KB / 279
GENREChildren’s Historical Fiction / Children’s Egyptian Fiction / Children’s Archaeology Books. / Science Fiction
LANGUAGEEnglish
ASIN / ISBN 10/13B082WS8H4C / 1734155248978-1734155242

AUTHOR

Find out about Ben Gartner and The Eye of Ra series here.

SYNOPSIS

The Eye of Ra is the first book in the saga of Sarah and John. They are a preteen sister and brother who travel through time and experience all sorts of adventures and life challenging situations. Sarah is 12 and believes she is worldly. Whilst John is 10 and is more reserved and the “Little Chef” of the house. Together they make a great team of adventurers.

In this first installment, we are introduced to the siblings and their upcoming move from Colorado to Maryland. They experience all kinds of reservation about the move; the loss of friends and the unknown that lies before them in a new state. Sarah, the more adventurous of the two, is looking forward to the move. While John doesn’t want to leave his best friend and the only home he has ever known.

Prior to the move, the family goes for a hike up the mountain behind their house. Sarah and John go off on their own and find a cave. Of course Sarah wants to explore the cave while John thinks that is a bad idea. In the cave, they are astonished to find ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs on the wall. While tracing the Eye of Ra with her hand, Sarah accidentally transports the two to ancient Egypt.

Lost in the time of the Pharaohs, Sarah and John have to find a way back home. They meet a local boy, Zach, who takes them in while they are trying to figure out what happened and how to reverse it. While in Egypt they meet all kinds of people, learn about ancient Egyptian culture, and even help build the first pyramid! They even become temporary sleuths and uncover a local criminal. Along the way they have to deal with cobras, scorpions, and Nile crocodiles.

Will Sarah and John ever make it home? Will the criminal come after them? Will they ever see their parents again? Are they stuck in the land of sand forever?

CONCLUSION

The Eye of Ra is the introduction into the series. It is an entertaining and exciting historical science fiction story. In this first installment Ben Gartner sets the stage for the future adventures of Sarah and John. While it doesn’t have as much adventure as the later two books, it is a great beginning. Sarah and John experience life and death situations, criminals, venomous snakes and scorpions, and crocodiles. Along the journey we learn about ancient Egyptian culture, beliefs and their religion. Sarah and John learn valuable life lessons and more about their own strengths and weaknesses.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. While it isn’t as fast paced or as crammed packed with adventure as the next 2 books in the series; I found it gripping and hard to put down. I read it in less than 2 days.

The Eye of Ra is recommended for children 8-12 years of age, but I believe people of all ages will be entranced by this series. If you like science fiction, time travel, ancient history, travel and adventure; then you will enjoy this book.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES

PEOPLE OF THE SUN – REVIEW

Audio & Book Reviews Site. Why watch when you can read?

People of the Sun by Ben Gartner
People of The Sun – Third in The Eye of Ra Series
TITLEPeople of the Sun (book 3 “Eye of RA” series)
AUTHORBen Gartner
PUBLISHERCrescent Vista Press (February 1, 2022)
FORMATKindle, Hardcover, Paperback
PAGES262
LANGUAGEEnglish
GENREChildren’s Historical Fiction, Science Fiction
ASIN / ISBN
10/13
B09B9FGWSW / 1734155272 / 978-1734155273

AUTHOR

Find out about Ben Gartner and The Eye of Ra Series here.

SYNOPSIS

People of the Sun is the third book in The Eye of Ra Series. Sarah and John continue their adventures in time!

Sarah is John’s older sister and together they make up a team of time traveling detectives. Their goal is to make sure that the time line remains intact. It seems that Dr. Tidewell (Sarah) and Mr. Tidewell (John) created a time machine in the year 2049. During a demonstration things go awry, and the entire audience is transported to various places throughout time; and the trouble begins!

The adult brother and sister duo travel back in time to enlist their earlier versions of themselves to help fix the timeline. If they can’t fix the timeline then life ceases to exist on Johns birthday in 2049 (the date of the presentation).

In this installment, they travel to Mexico in the year 1519 to prevent the death of Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, a Spanish Conquistador. Toci, an expert scholar in Aztec culture and fluent in English, Spanish and the Nahuatl language, is determined to prevent Cortés from conquering the Aztecs. What follows is an adventure that sees Sarah and John almost becoming human sacrifices, battling for their very lives and having to make some hard decisions about whether or not to change history.

CONCLUSION

People of the Sun is an excellent book. It has time travel, history, action, and adventure! It is filled with moral conundrums, universal impacting decisions, and morality.

Ben has done another superb job with this book. He has managed to mold history with adventure again. Just reading this book and the Author’s Note at the end, I learned quit-a-bit about the Aztecs, Cortés and the fall of an entire empire.

This book is a great read for the young and old alike. I highly recommend this series and don’t forget to read the Author’s Notes. Ben provides links to the historical references if the reader would like to learn more about the period.

I can’t wait to read about Sarah and John’s next adventure!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank Ben Gartner and Crescent Vista Press for affording me the opportunity to review People of the Sun.

OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES

The Eye of Ra is now available for a short time for 0.99 cents.