Cosmic Cadets and the Universal Uni-Korn

Gloria is excited to be the first ever human, cosmic cadet who has been accepted at the cadet academy. She is starting a month later than the other cadets due to mishaps, like oversleeping on her interview day. Her mother has also requested a private spaceship to the academy. The head teacher was not going to grant this until Gloria’s mother threatened to arm-wrestle her. Spaceship granted.

Gloria intends to have the best first day ever known for a cadet. Will she manage it? Or will she learn that sometimes the definition of being the best means supporting your friends too?

When Gloria arrives at the academy, things go from bad to worse. She refuses to follow any of the rules and insists on tackling, with her equally new mission partner, Razz, a cat-like alien who gets angry if you call her a cat, on the most dangerous mission possible, to tame a Uni-Korn. They are vicious beasts who destroy spaceships. Will they get back in one piece and what will they each learn from the missions?

The appeal of Crawford’s narrative is that Gloria is impatient and impulsive, much like many people sometimes. The reader will spend much of the narrative thinking ‘Oh, no, don’t do that!’ followed by ‘Oops, you did!’

Gloria gives child readers the satisfaction of seeing what would happen if they followed their instincts rather than their heads and she will delight them because of that.

Falconer’s illustrations are so vibrant and in full colour throughout, that they jump off the page and they add an extra layer to the humour of the story.