Space Taxi: Archie Takes Flight by Wendy Mass (review)

Archie has been waiting all eight years, eight months, and eight days for this night, when he can finally accompany his dad on his second-shift taxi route for Take Your Kid to Work Day. As they pull away, though, the taxi takes off into outer space, and Archie’s dad reveals that he’s actually a space taxi driver. Their first fare unfortunately turns out to be a notorious intergalactic criminal, a fact they find out by witnessing Pockets, a stowaway talking cat agent of the Intergalactic Security Force, take him down. Seeing a strategic opportunity, the ISF then invites them to use their space taxi skills as the Force’s agents under the guidance of Pockets, who comes to live on Earth in their home. While these extra–solar system adventures will garner enthusiasm, the plot’s pretty thin to sustain even this slight length, and Archie’s adjustment to intergalactic norms and his dad’s agreement to an out-of-this-world homeschooling program are implausibly sudden and contrived. The short chapters, large print, and plenty of blocky, simple spot art enhance the readability factor, though, and a brief afterward accessibly explains the concepts of gravity, wormholes, and exoplanets for budding scientists. Even with its shortcomings, most kids will be fans of the idea of dropping out of school and having a pet alien-police-cat, so while O’Ryan’s Hello, Nebulon! (BCCB 7/8/13) may be a stronger interplanetary early reader, this is going to have appeal for readers ready to take off on their own.