Space Race [Library Binding]

Sylvia Waugh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 10, 2008

From the author of the popular Mennyms series comes a heartwarming story about a young boy who discovers he's not who he thought he was--in fact, he's not even an earthling!

Every night before going to sleep, 11-year-old Thomas Derwent says to his father, "Nallytan, Vateelin mesht." It's the one thing he remembers from the language of The Other Place, and Thomas has never thought much about it. Until now. Now, because his father has told him that they're leaving. Not just the small town in England where they live, but Earth. They're returning to The Other Place, the planet of Ormingat, from which they came five years before. It was so long ago, though, that Thomas can't remember anything about his life there. All he knows is his life on Earth, and he can't imagine leaving the places and people he loves so much. But the only other option is to stay behind. Alone.

Sylvia Waugh has written a fresh and heartwarming story about holding on to what's important when your world is changing. Or, when you're changing worlds.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Thomas, 11, and his father, Patrick, live a seemingly ordinary existence in the cozy northern English village of Belthorp. In reality, however, Thomas and Patrick are Tonitheen and Vateelin, alien agents from the planet Ormingat sent to Earth on a benevolent mission to record the doings of this planet's inhabitants. Their five-year stint nearly over, father and son expect to return to their planet the day after Christmas. On their way to recover their golf-ball-size space ship, stowed in Edinburgh, a dramatic traffic accident separates the pair, leaving Thomas stranded (and pretending to be mute) in a hospital. Meanwhile, PatrickAtemporarily miniaturized by the shockAmust fend for himself. In outline, this plot is as whimsical and imaginative as those of Waugh's earlier books; in execution, however, the story has a muffled feel, lacking the cozy warmth and immediacy that made her Mennyms adventures so vivid. Since so much of the novel takes place in the hospital, as a bedridden Thomas waits for his father to find him, melancholy introspection often takes the place of action ("He watched the Mickey Mouse clock and went listlessly back to his effort at telepathy, though with no real hope that it would work"). Even the shrunken Patrick's journey to EdinburghAachieved partly via catching rides on the shoes of passers byAis strangely joyless. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7-Thomas Derwent and his father have lived in the small English town of Belthorp for the last five years. Now 11, Thomas has a good friend and substitute mother in Stella Dalrymple, the kindly neighbor who helps care for him, and a best friend at school. Then his father announces that it is time to return home-to the planet Ormingat. En route to a spaceship buried in Glasgow, a speeding brewery tanker cuts their journey short. The boy lands in the hospital and his father can't be found. Waugh provides an interesting background for this story, with brief descriptions of the varieties of Ormingat science, the workings of the spaceship, and the aliens' intentions for their continuing study of Earth's inhabitants. However, much of the focus of this novel is on Thomas's relationship with his father and his friends, and how they illuminate basic truths about human interactions. In her books about the "Mennyms" (Greenwillow), a family of sentient and sensitive rag dolls, the author created an absorbing fantasy that explores the many meanings of family, friendship, and even life itself. In the same way, Space Race is a thoughtful examination of friendship, loyalty, and love. Readers will enjoy the exciting plot and fast-moving action, and the sympathetic characters will stay with them long after the book is closed.
Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Library Binding
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439510733
• ISBN-13: 978-1439510735
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,916,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book I've Ever Read, November 30, 2001

By 

A 9-year old reader (Brownstown,PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Space Race (Hardcover)

Space Race is an awesome book. So if you are and eager reader I think you will like this book too. The author, Sylvia Waugh, uses a lot of interesting words to make a great book. It is about an eight year old boy named Thomas who lived on a far away planet, Ormingat, and had to come to Earth because his dad had a job to do. Thomas makes a new friend,Mickey, so his dad tells him not to tell anyone who he really is or where he is really from.Thomas didn't listen to that and told Mickey but it is a good thing that Mickey doesn't listen to him.When the time had come the Ormingat people said they had to go back to Ormingat.Will Thomas and his dad leave or stay.If you want to find out then read Space Race.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book I've Ever Read, November 30, 2001

By 

A 9-year old reader (Brownstown,PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Space Race (Hardcover)

Space Race is an awesome book. So if you are and eager reader I think you will like this book too. The author, Sylvia Waugh, uses a lot of interesting words to make a great book. It is about an eight year old boy named Thomas who lived on a far away planet, Ormingat, and had to come to Earth because his dad had a job to do. Thomas makes a new friend,Mickey, so his dad tells him not to tell anyone who he really is or where he is really from.Thomas didn't listen to that and told Mickey but it is a good thing that Mickey doesn't listen to him.When the time had come the Ormingat people said they had to go back to Ormingat.Will Thomas and his dad leave or stay.If you want to find out then read Space Race.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new book to me, June 4, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Space Race (Hardcover)

I thought that this book was a new type of book. A normal book is ussaly just something exciting happens and that is it for kids books but this book is different because I ussaly cant read a real kind of far out book and enjoy it but I enjowed this book so much. I think that Mrs.Waugh has brought on a new kind of book. The book is not one of those books about creepy aliens and all that junk, it is about real aliens witgh real feelinggs trying to get home just like any other person would do. If you like this book I would sujest reading the His Dark Materials series by Phillip Pullman.