Gr 3-5 In a rousing effort to cure her sick friend Sara's ennui, if not her cold, Jill fashions an imaginary spaceship, the Unbored , powered by "EnthusiPlasma"; crews it with space-suited versions of their pets; and sends it on a tour of the solar system"underground oceans, huge storms, giant canyons" and all. Moving from the sun outward, the intrepid (well, mostly) Space Pets land on or fly by each planet (including Earth) and select moons. The onboard AI and Jill's snake, "Science Officer Slithers," deliver quick, accurate facts and "scareinteresting" observations. In his squared-off and inset cartoon panels, Chad mixes images of extraterrestrial wonders with awed or apprehensive reactions from the Space Pets, striking a visual balance between fact and fancy so that the tour never feels like an info dump. Following a suspenseful rescue on Uranus's moon Miranda, the itinerary ends at Pluto with tantalizing glimpses of the Kuiper Belt, the Oort cloud, and the stars and galaxies beyond. Readers who, like Sara, are ready for further exploration will be delighted to find the Unbored 's EnthusiPlasma tanks fuller than ever. VERDICT A story line infused with humor and drama adds particular animation to this entry in the "Science Comics" series; budding astro-tourists in middle elementary grades will happily sign up for repeat journeys. John Peters, Children's Literature Consultant, New York

Two friends on Earth explore the solar system through an out-of-this-world tale about their space-traveling pets.Sarah, sick in bed, is thrilled when her friend Jill comes to visit, since after organizing her socks and reading all of her books, she's gotten pretty bored. To entertain her friend, Jill uses a nonfiction book about the solar system as framework for an adventure story starring their pets. Capt. Riley the dog, Cmdr. Pepper the cat, engineer Fortinbras the hamster, and science officer Slithers the snake are led by an AI named Precise Astronomical Locator (P.A.L. for short) who is obsessed with the game chess. They visit all eight planets, including Earth, and send reports back to Sarah in order to spark her interest and enthusiasm, which translates into the fuel they need to feed their spaceship—EnthusiPlasma! Through a bubbly plot and charming graphic-novel illustrations, author Mosco and illustrator Chad (with colorist Healy) create a world in which learning really is fun and even the faraway Pluto comes within reach. Concepts such as gravity and fusion are clearly explained with help from accompanying diagrams. Dialogue among both humans and animals feels natural, and the illustrations are colorful and vibrant; that Sarah and Jill are both kids of color is another plus. Backmatter includes a glossary and a guide to watching meteor showers.An anything-but-boring introduction to the beautiful mysteries of the universe. (Graphic nonfiction. 9-14)