Space Race by Sylvia Waugh

Waugh, Sylvia.
Space Race.
Random House, Inc.:
New York, 2000.

Patrick and Thomas Derwent couldn’t be more average as a British father and son family. They are as plain as can be, except that they came to Earth five years ago in a spaceship the size of a golf ball. Thomas is eleven years-old and has been observing his schoolmate chums everyday, writing down their lives and experiences in journals to document them for his home planet Ormingat. Now their stay as Earthlings is coming to an end and Thomas and his father must make the three year journey home. But as they make their trip back to the spacecraft, an accident separates the two. As the deadline for mandatory takeoff approaches both father and son struggle with what might happen if either are forced to stay in permanent residence in a foreign land without the other.

As such a young child, we see Thomas struggle with his identity as a human on Earth, which is most of what he really understands, and as an alien that remembers little about his home planet. Waugh writes two great characters to the page, hashing out the difficulties of change and understanding yourself and your relationship to those around you. Bringing the emotions to the front through great action, one can’t but wonder what will happen next and who might be coming to whose rescue. Relaying a science-fiction story that seems completely logical, the story comes to life in way that makes you feel it couldn’t possibly be fiction.

This review was originally written as coursework for a class on Young Adult literature.