Scarlet thought her adventure began with the boy floating outside her window, but it was much earlier than that. Scarlet is a high achiever and her little brother is
not. In fact he couldn’t care less about rules and schoolwork and behaving himself – all things Scarlet took seriously.
From Scarlet’s point of view, her little brother got away with murder in their home, allowed to do things she is not. She finds him incredibly annoying and scoffs at his insistence that he will soon become Defender of the Universe. He’s planning to reply to the ad for this position in the back of his Beano comic. But it’s Scarlet’s application (sent in jest) that gets a response.
Sensible Scarlet cannot believe what the boy (named Jasper) is telling her outside her two storey bedroom window. Defender of the Universe? Her? After having an argument with her mum about her little brother (again), Scarlet throws sensible out of the window as she steps onto a hoverboard, and is whisked off to an invisible spaceship.
Inside, she meets an incredibly clever egg-shaped robot, and a very very, VERY cute alien called Pom Pom. When news reaches them that a smelly alien race resembling giant blobs with frog eyes are travelling the universe sucking up planet cores to keep their hot chocolate warmer for longer, Scarlet and Jasper jump into action.
It’s not long before Scarlet realises, that although Jasper looks like a human boy, he is a little different. All the decisions fall upon her shoulders – especially when Planet Earth is next on the alien blob’s list!
Funny and full of action, tension and ‘Oh no!’ moments.
Sibling rivalry at home kicks off the strangest decision of Scarlet’s life – launching her into an adventure across the galaxy and back again. Time travel, lasers, speed of sound cosmos jumps and laughs propel this illustrated story along.
The narrator speaks directly to the reader from the very first lines, making sure they are in fact a human child and not a Panda. This story will not be suitable for Panda’s.
As this is Scarlet’s first journey in her new job, she must learn the capabilities of her new spaceship and the robot that controls it. She is shocked and pleasantly surprised over and over at the possibilities before her.
Scarlet Defender of the Universe would make a fun read aloud, as there is so much happening and you never know what will happen next!
Author – James Davis
Illustrator – Dotty Sutton
Age – 7+
(2025, Harper Collins, Action, Adventure, Bullies, Family, Friendship, Humour, Sci Fi, Funny, Aliens, Cute creature, Sibling rivalry, Annoying little brother, Courage, Robot, Quick thinking, Teamwork, Tension, Spaceships, Video games)