The Kid Who Came from Space – Ross Welford

With each new release from Ross Welford I am always so in awe of how gripped, interested, intrigued and compelled I am with his writing, and this latest read The Kid who came from Space is everything I found myself hoping it would be and so much more as it treats us to an unforgettable adventure that is quite literally out of this world.

For the large part the book is told as Ethan, a young boy on earth who is devastated that his twin sister Tammy has gone missing, but there are chapters dedicated to Hellyan – an alien from another planet that plays a part in reuniting the twins. It is this additional perspective from a creature that we would all be curious to know more about, the other side to the story you would say, that contributes to this being such an unbelievably good read.

The story itself traces the journey that Ethan embarks on to return his sister to the family home, and that happens to see him enter space and alien territory which ensures readers will remain engrossed as they will Ethan and his sidekick Iggy to success, especially as we see how Tammy is being kept and treated and can emphasise with her hugely as she fears her captives and faces a reality that she is unlikely to make it home – she cannot just runaway after all.

Reading this incredible story brings up lots of questions and leaves the reader asking themselves about aspects of the book long after it has finished such as how Tammy is held in a zoo like environment on the alien planet, and seeing how she feels which makes you wonder about the animals paraded around in zoo establishments on our planet now, and reminds us that captivity is unnatural to however or whatever it is being held against their will/desire, and this is something we could all do with remembering as more and more species of animal become incredibly rare and even extinct.

Time is another aspect within the book that I have found myself thinking back on since reading this book as it will state that thirty minutes have passed since something earlier on in the chapter and yet as the reader I was surprised as I had allocated longer then that in my head to the chain of events I was reading about. There are other mentions to time within the book and I like that it gives you perspective as the reader and also shows you where the narrative has focused on more details to the scene that is unfolding.

Having never been to Space I loved that every inch of this book came alive in my imagination as I delved further and further into the pages within it, and that it did so with such ease. There is as we know nothing worse then not being able to easily follow a story as it unfolds, but this book has no such issue, allowing you to picture such highlights as Hellyan the hairy female alien, the abandoned christmas presents piled high and addressed to missing Tammy, the space ship that is used within this extra terrestrial adventure, and even Iggy’s side kick Chicken (which has some vital and funny parts to play within the book!).

Readers will find it hard to put this book down, as I did, and I genuinely envy the intended audience members that get to read this story for the first time and experience that incredible feeling as they are transported to a magical world created by their own individual imaginations, spurred on by the high quality, depthy content within the book, I would have found this book to be golden reading material when I was a child.

I have already purchased multiple copies of this book for my school library, and of course they are all out on loan already, with some requests for previous Ross Welford titles too as a lucky class of students got to hear the first chapter of The kid who came from Space being read to them by their teacher during their library session this week, leaving them curious about how the story would develop, and excited to experience the adventure within.