When I opened the box that contained The Return of Zita the Spacegirl, I squealed and jumped around (a little bit, ok a lot) and my youngest son arrived to investigate.  He is 12 years old and has loved Zita for years.  The first Zita book traveled around with him for some time.  It was one of those beloved books that went into every school bag, rode on any long car ride, and was tucked under his arm just in case he got bored.  Upon seeing the new book, he immediately pounced, pulled it out of my hands and made to dash off with it.  But no, I had a review to write and he could not have it.  I nestled it onto my book table and went to do laundry.

I was gone a few minutes and came back into the room to see my older child, now 17 years old, getting ready to curl up with the new Zita book that I thought I had secured!  I once again wrestled it out of eager hands (something that feels so wrong as a librarian but fine as a book lover) and told them that they had to wait until my review was finished to read it.

So that is my favorite thing.  My favorite thing is the eagerness that this book series creates in readers.  Everyone knows that Zita will have a great adventure, that there will be plenty of humor, cute and strange creatures, lots of danger, and even some old friends.  It is the type of series that spans from childhood to teen years, cool enough to carry around proudly and beloved enough to curl up with at bedtime even at age 17.

I too have adored Zita the Spacegirl from the very first book.  Now the final book in the series is coming out and  I am both saddened to see Zita coming to an end and also heartened to have a great series end with such a terrific book.

I will spoil nothing for you here.  Suffice it to say that both of my children found it worth the wait to read it as did I.  After all, Zita is one amazing heroine who solves problems both on her own and with her friends.  This is girl power at its best! 

And I can’t wait to see what Ben Hatke does next, can you?