It felt like reuniting with an old friend. While the characters are fairly standard and the adventures which follow suit tend to be a bit predictable, Hatke uses these as tools to immerse the reader into a new world very easily. (For the record, I can’t decide if Mouse, One, or Strong Strong is my favorite character. And finally, we have to wrap up this merry band with the Han Solo-esque character we all don’t know if we can trust to stick around: The Piper. Strong Strong who is exactly the character you imagine him to be: A strangely shaped, gigantic, slow-witted alien who is capable of experiencing more emotion than most people and is completely full of love. Randy is the cowardly robot who we all know will be more than he seems. Next we meet One, a spherical battle orb with self-esteem issues and a twitchy trigger finger, but who is incredibly loyal. Mouse plays the part of a Beatrix Potter-esque mammalian mode of transportation who communicates by printing messages from a machine attached to his collar. In some obscure way or another.įirst in the merry band we have a mouse, named Pizzicato but who hates his name so he just goes by Mouse. She befriends many creatures one at a time who all elect to join her on the adventure to save Joseph. Zita makes it to this mysterious planet only to need to find a different way to get home. Yes, this story is very much like The Wizard of Oz, but set in space. Taken to a new planet on the other side of the solar system adventures ensue as Zita befriends aliens in not just an attempt to save Joseph, but also to find her own way home and hopefully save the planet she is currently on from being destroyed!

Ever brave, Zita immediately follows to rescue her wimpy friend.

Curious, they explore it and discover a big red button! Obviously, the next step is to push the button– and so our adventure begins! The button creates a space rift, and Joseph is pulled in against his will. Zita and her friend Joseph are playing outside when a meteor crashes down next to them. But the temptation is so great… Can we really ever help ourselves? The curiosity of children is what always leads them to push the big red button.

Zita the spacegirl