Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Walden Pond Press: A Division of Harper Collins. January 2010. YA Fiction. 313 pp. hardcover, ISBN #: 9780061836831.

Liam Digby is not your average 12 year old; he looks like an adult and is taller than any of his peers. His Dad tries really hard to understand him but Liam remains an enigma, a young guy who eats, sleeps, and drinks online video gaming programs, one in particular which even he is unaware is training him for something profoundly BIG!

Liam pretends to be his Dad and applies for an unbelievable opportunity, a contest for greatest Dads which will be an amazing adventure. As Liam's a daredevil of a sort, he figures he can handle this adult posing. Having dared to ride multiple times in a G-gravity roller coaster and experimented somewhat with his father's Porsche, what's next?

Much to his surprise, Liam wins the prize and takes, as his daughter, a friend, Florida. Here begins a bigger contest in which one adult from the other three winners will get to go to outer space with all the children. But these are not ordinary children by any means and Liam's "Dad" skills are hilariously not exactly up to par at first!

Cosmic is a tale about the wisdom of fathers and a higher purpose behind all those addictive video games that just might really save a bunch of very exclusive lives. It's not soppy, and it's downright funny in so many places. This is a very cool story that will please not only young adult but also adult readers. Behind the fun and adventure are some solid, scientific, intelligent facts presented in a fascinating way.

Very nicely done, Frank Cottrell Boyce!!!