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Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth

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I'm not going to lie: I went into this book with really low expectations. I don't know if that was because a) I was not impressed by the first Carnegie novel I read and b) I don't think the cover and title does the book justice! But in all honesty, I actually quite liked it and gave it three stars of five. I don't want to say more, because we went in totally cold & were enthralled. Commute time, bedtime, waiting time, just plain sad time... Sputnik got us through a tough couple of months. It's been quite a while since our son asked for us to keep going on a read aloud with this kind of consistency. Frank was asked by the Fleming Estate to write the official sequel to Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again was shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize in 2012. Full of heart and emotion that might just bring a tear to your eye. If it doesn’t though it’s still got lightsabers and alien space dogs. ( Tom Fletcher, Tom Fletcher Book Club)

There are some content notes hidden in the spoiler tag. I recommend you don't peek unless you are looking to avoid a specific tender spot. No-one writes like Frank Cottrell Boyce, and readers who enjoy this will also love his books Cosmicand The Astounding Broccoli Boy.Jamie Thomson’s Dark Lordbooks are also very funny, and just as good on human nature as is My Brother is a Superheroby David Solomons.What I mean is that Boyce is careful and sensitive about something that is, of course, a scary eventuality for most of us - the idea of losing ourselves over time. Or perhaps worse, the idea of losing our loved ones. Frank's first book, Millions, won the CILIP Carnegie Medal in 2004 and has been shortlisted for a number of awards, including the Guardian Children's Fiction Award 2004. Millions has also been made into a movie directed by Danny Boyle. Frank's second novel, Framed, was published in September 2005 and shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread Award and the Guardian Prize. It was made into a BBC feature-length film in 2009. Frank's third novel, Cosmic, was published in June 2008. It was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2008 and the inaugural Roald Dahl Funny Prize. Ok, to the plot: in brief, an alien from outer space has landed on earth and must find out ten good reasons to save the planet; otherwise it will be shrunk to the size of a little ball. This alien appears on the doorstep of a farm where a foster child, Prez (short for Preston), is spending the summer. Prez had been living with his grandfather until Granddad began to have memory issues. Granddad was sent off to an old folks home and Prez was put in "temporary care". When the alien, whom we soon learn is named "Sputnik", shows up, he appears to Prez as a funny-looking kid in a kilt, wearing goggles. He soon learns that Sputnik can hear his thoughts and that to other people, he looks like a dog. (The farm family is inordinately charmed by Sputnik's handshakes all around.)

I absolutely love Frank Cottrell Boyce's stories. I discovered them through my children, and Cosmic is my favorite book of all times along with His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman. I bought this new book in ASDA, I was so excited he wrote another book, he doesn't write very often, I have nearly given up on waiting. (even though I realised Frank C B wrote another book before as well, something to do with broccoli). This is an out-of-this world adventure that is also a heartening story about the importance of friendship and family. - The Week Junior Boyce is British, and not as well known in the U.S. as he should be. In the UK, he was chosen by Sir Ian Fleming’s heirs to write sequels to Fleming’s only children’s novel: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Boyce wrote a follow-up that outshined the original. He has written half a dozen original middle grade novels, including Millions, Framed, and Cosmic, each of which blend humor and heart in equal parts for poignant stories that brim with appealing characters and lots of hilarious hijinks. Sputnik’s Guide shares the winning formula of Boyce’s previous books. However, the adopted family was pretty poorly developed. The only name I can remember out of that family was Jessie, she's one of the children. Apart from knowing that they talk loads, what else do we know about the people? Pretty much nothing. I felt like they were only there for the sake of giving Prez another family and having other characters. They had no other purpose in my opinion. The Blythes are a big, warm, rambunctious family who live on a small farm and sometimes foster children. Now Prez has come to live with them. But, though he seems cheerful and helpful, he never says a word.Very briefly, this book is about a boy named Prez who could stay silent for England, he doesn't talk a lot at all (it's never said outright but it is hinted through the narrative that he has a form of autism), and his grandfather who has been taken away for reasons that are fairly unknown to us. Prez is now living with this adopted family who are taking him in temporarily for the summer and at the same time, an alien, that has taken on the form of a dog whose name is Sputnik Mellows, has come down from outer space and told Prez that the planet is in danger and if they don't find ten things worth keeping on Planet Earth in the next summer, the planet will be shrunk. classic Cottrell Boyce: zany, lay-out-loud funny and with a very strong emotional heart. - INIS reading guide Premise/plot: Prez Mellows is a foster kid who doesn't say much--until one day Sputnik shows up at the door of his new temporary home. To the rest of the world, Sputnik appears to be an ordinary dog. Only Prez sees him for who he is or perhaps what he is--an alien who can read his mind. Sputnik tells Prez that he's the reason he came to earth. Together they have an important job to do: save earth from destruction by coming up with a list of ten reasons why earth is worth seeing. Prez balances this mission with an even greater one: how to be reunited with his Grandad again. Millionswas was later turned into a film by Danny Boyle and it features in the Book Trust’s 100 Best Books List for 9-11 year olds.

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