Aquila

A Roman spaceship named after the Latin word for 'eagle'? Sounds an unlikely starting point for a successful story but this adventure is one which upper junior children will enjoy as a relatively undemanding read. I am not sure whether this book preceded the BBC TV series which I did not catch but which apparently contained some pretty good special effect, or if it is a TV tie-in. The book certainly reads like a screenplay, moving to and fro scenes. Basically two Year 7 schoolboys, Tom and Geoff, running off to avoid actually having to do any work on a geography field trip, discover a buried Roman spaceship in perfect working order. What has to be done to make it work leads to some trial and error piloting experiments. There are some interesting episodes as the boys attempt to ascertain the extent of its capabilities whilst trying to keep the machine a secret.