The Starman and Me

What do you do when you spot a ‘caveman’ hiding on a local roundabout?  Well Kofi decides he wants to find out who it is and where they came from.  The character speaks an odd form of English and says his name is Rorty Thrutch but cannot remember where he comes from, or why he is in England.  He also has some amazing ‘powers’ which allow him to manipulate some aspects of a computer; all of which is very disconcerting to say the least.  Things start to get more complex as Kofi tries to discover Rorty’s origins and there are other people who are also on the lookout for this lost character.

This is a quirky and wonderful story that has a distinct feel of Stig of the Dump or even Nation by Terry Pratchett.  It is the concept of the ‘innocent abroad’ and the often very manipulative and even dangerous world that we tend to live in; it also looks at how we can use technology to change the way the brain works.  At the heart of the story we have the theme of family and home and we see how Rorty just wants to get back to the world that he knows.  The author has given us some really dastardly villains as well as some very unlikely heroes and it is fascinating to see how they are unveiled as the plot develops.  I really enjoyed the various layers of the story in which differing elements gradually come together and create a satisfying whole.  It is a truly original story and I feel that it will have a long life as a classic tale for both individual and also class reading.  It will definitely be a hit with the top of KS2 and has all the hallmarks of a possible film or TV adaption, only time will tell.