Review Detail

Spaced Out (Moon Base Alpha #2)

Middle Grade Fiction 638

In space, no one can hear you scream

February 17, 2016 (Updated: June 29, 2026)

Overall rating

5.0

Plot

5.0

Characters

N/A

Writing Style

N/A

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

Dashiell has had it with Patton and Lily, the children of the space tourists, but after he gets in an altercation with Patton that involves using the space toilet to defend himself, Dashiell is reprimanded by the base commander, Nina. When Nina goes missing it's a huge mystery. How far can she have gone on the space station? Everyone starts to investigate, and Kira and Dashiell find moon rocks in Nina's room, fueling the idea that she was going to try to sell them for tremendous sums of money. Still, where has she gone? The group goes looking outside the space station to try to find her, a jaunt which almost ends in tragedy because some of the helmets had been damaged by being used to play football! Dashiell has the help of Zan Perfonic, the alien who can "visit" him virtually and who is very handy when she scares Patton by showing him a vision of a terrifying space snake! Eventually, Dashiell is able to put together pieces of the puzzle and locate Nina, and also manages to find out what the evil Sjobergs are trying to do to the space station!

Good Points

The details about living in space, especially the information from a space safety guide that appear between chapters, are quite good, and the references to science fiction movies and television shows that don't do a good job at depicting the realities of life in space will be very humorous to readers who are familiar with them. The space toilet, and Dashiell's use of it when defending himself, is an exceptionally brilliant inclusion.

The mystery is a good one, and Dashiell's use of available clues realistic. The interactions of the space crew go against protocol in some instances, but are probably very true to life of any group of people forced to spend extended time together.

Gibbs is always a pleasure to read. His prose is facile and funny, and my students like his work every bit as much as I do. I love the fact that his series tend to be short enough that all of the books get read (something which just doesn't happen if a series is over about 4 books long), and that the publisher has kept the same style of covers on all of the books. Spaced Out is a great choice for readers who like mysteries, science fiction, or just an amusing read!