Space Case

Space Case
Stuart Gibbs
Simon & Schuster, 2014 337 pages
Grades 4-7
Mystery/Science Fiction
Moon Base Alpha series #1

Welcome to the first active moon base in the year 2041. Dashiell lives with his scientist parents and little sister on the base as one of the first families. Dash finds life stuck inside the moon base very boring and not much fun. All gets shaken up when Dash overhears a conversation during a middle of the night bathroom excursion, where Dr. Holtz, a famous scientist and fellow “Moonie”, reveals that he has made a startling and important discovery of which he will share with the world in the morning. Only, as the morning arrives, Dr. Holtz is found dead outside the moon base, due to an improper space suit. Dash suspects foul play, but neither his parents nor the base commander agree with him. A new space ship of "Moonies" arrive including Kira, a girl Dash's age who becomes interested in the fate of Dr. Holtz. Dash and Kira begin to look into the incident. Many residents seem suspicious. Which of the folks trapped up in the moon with our two investigators is the culprit? Meanwhile, Zan, a scientist freshly arriving from Earth on Kira's ship, approaches Dash with her own suspicious and wants them to work together. What is her true identity? Both mysteries are solved by book's end, with a dangling plot thread inviting readers to the next installment in the series titled Spaced Out.

I love a good mystery and Gibbs is one of today's maters for young people. What I appreciate about his mysteries is that he adds a second layer. Whether it’s environmental (Funjungle) or spy thriller (Spy School) or, in this case, set on a future moon base, readers walk away with a little something extra to the plot. Although set in the near future on a different planet, Space Case offers a straight forward mystery. Red herrings are presented and clues are discovered, allowing for kids to try to figure out the culprit on their own. Even though there are several characters in order to allow for a decent pool of suspects, I was able to keep them all straight in my head. As typical in mysteries, this is not a story of great imagery and character development. Instead it is a fun read with an interesting and fast plot set in a really cool place. All readers will enjoy this story and it is a perfect choice to recommend for mystery reports and pleasure reading. The end pages are a map of the moon base, which will immediately suck readers in (it worked for me) and then a cast of characters that will help folks keep everyone squared away in their memories. Each new chapter is introduced by a tie-in from the Moon Manual, adding yet another layer to this well-crafted tale. Best of all, readers will have more adventures to crack into once they finish this first series entry and may even move onto some of Gibbs' other equally interesting series.