I was sent a copy of Allison Rushby’s book to review (probably because she is my sister’s mate!) and it occurred to me that for a person as into books as I am, they don’t feature very often on my blog. I need to fix that! My whole family is into books. I grew up with books pouring off overstuffed shelves and my own home looks much the same. To this day my mum keeps a ‘drawer’ of books she’s read and recommends for us to pillage when we make it down to see her. She has amazingly eclectic, varied taste when it comes to books so it’s no wonder that all of her children grew up with a book in their hand and words in their heart.
So, back to Allison Rushby’s How to save the universe in 10 easy steps. I read it, I loved its themes of family and belonging, I thought it had all the humour of an Andy Griffiths without the poo jokes (always a plus). I recommended it to Max and he read the whole thing in half a day (he has the family book gene for sure). Then I thought, “why not ask Max to do the book review for me?” and so it was… mind you, ask a 10 year old boy to review a book and you are going to be rather confused – 10 year old boys have their own crazy logic. But at least he’s very (very) honest. I fixed his typos and some of his more glaring grammatical and spelling issues (I couldn’t help myself), but otherwise, here’s Max on How to save the universe in 10 easy steps…
So, what’s the book about?
The book is filled with aliens and one human on planet Morillius. Cooper is the human and he’s trying to save the world but his annoying twin sister (because sisters are always annoying so imagine how annoying a twin would be, I feel sorry for my cousin Jake who has a twin sister Gemma… that’s gonna hurt) turns out to be an alien (I will ask Jake about Gemma sometime). So obviously she’s not really his twin sister after all. A boy called Hale is also an alien who tries to help them – he’s supposed to be their triplet but he ran away in the early days. I don’t know why, the book probably told me but I skipped a bit. Hale helps them save the world. What Cooper doesn’t realise is that all along he was… heck, I nearly gave the big moment away! Just read the book and find out what happens.
What did you think of the book?
Well, my aunty’s friend Allison Rushby did a good job with the book because she was aiming it at kids my age and also kids older and teenagers and maybe even smart kids a bit younger than me (but they would have to be super smart). I’m ten by the way. All kinds of kids will like this book.
I love the cover and it’s a really well set out book with the steps to saving the universe making up each chapter, which I think makes it nice to read. I loved how funny his sister was and the different steps to saving the universe were also really funny – like step 3 is knowing that your dog can talk and step 10 is simply called “panic”.
My favourite character was Jack the dog because he was always funny and he just found out he can talk. A talking dog is always going to be funny.
What made it different to other books?
It was scary in some places, funny in others – which is an excellent mix. It also had some boring bits that make it really step up a bit. Like, the boring bits, you’re thinking “oh, this is so boring” but then suddenly you get to something like “find out you’re from a different planet” and you think, “oh, this isn’t so boring after all.” Sometimes the boring bits make the other bits even better.
An example of a boring bit is probably when Cooper was getting so worked up about touching a sign because every time he tried to touch a sign he thought of reasons not to do it. That went on for a bit too long. I might not have wanted to keep reading except Mum wanted me to do this review, so I kept going. Which is really good because there other bits that are awesome.
I think Allison Rushby should ban the boring bits for book 2 (she should definitely write another book!).
Would you recommend this book to other kids?
Yes, totally. 10/10 review! Oh, maybe 9/10 because of the boring bits. I don’t want to keep going on about those bits, because there really weren’t many of them – but they did exist. But stick with it because it’s worth it. Like I said,it’s a whole NINE out of TEN.
Do you ever ask your kids about the books they read? Got any classic moments to share?
Kelly Exeter says
Max will you read my book for me?! I need to know where the boring bits are so I can eliminate them!! Best, most honest review ever xx
Maxabella says
But the boring bits make the other bits even better, Kel. You DO NOT want to eliminate the boring bits! #lifemetaphorsbyMax x
Helen K says
Great review – Max has inspired me to look into this for my Sam (once he’s finished Percy Jackson). Please thank him for me!
Maxabella says
He’ll be thrilled, Helen. x
Megan Blandford says
Love it, Max!
Maxabella says
He’s a gem my boy. Worth all the trouble at the end of the day (most days!). x
Kym Campradt says
I love your review, Max! You made me laugh and have made me want to read this book too. I’ll have to wait until my boys are bigger (or maybe just more super smart). Love this idea, Bron. A great, honest review x
Maxabella says
I know, right… I think it’s quite surprising how serious he took the task and it’s very interesting to see that ‘funny’ is really the most important thing in literature when you are a boy who is ten. Like most kids’ stories written by a good writer, this was a great read – I recommend it to you, Kym. x