SHIPPING & HANDLING
Our shipping and handling is carried by our partners Amazon or Book Depository. Click respective buttons to be redirected to their sites and purchase our books. BOOK INFORMATION Format: Paperback Pages: 174 Publication Date: October/2019 Category: Children’s Fiction/Middle Grade/Teenager/Junior Fiction/Young Adult/Kids Other For ages: 11+ Publisher: Spies Publishing ISBN: 978-0-473-49103-1 Edited by Helen Vivienne Fletcher Cover by The Cover Collection Typesetting by Helen Vivienne Fletcher |
Ben's new Science Fiction - 2020
RRP NZ$25.00 Written by: Young NZ author Ben Spies Earth's orbit is moving closer to the Sun and our planet is heating up at an alarming rate. The spacecraft sent by NASA, to find a new home for the human race, has been destroyed by an alien force.. Twelve-year-old Jacob and his mother, Susan, are fighting for survival while witnessing the horrors of an apocalyptic world. With so many threats to our planet, the true enemy may not come from outer space, but from right here among us. Susan and Jacob are quickly running out of time. However, hope might be on its way after all...just not from where they expected. Will Susan and Jacob survive? Or will they fall prey to this dreadful, chaotic world? 2020 is the fourth novel from teenage author, Ben Spies. Ben was the bronze medal winner at the Moonbeam Children's Book Awards for the best book by youth author with his book The World of Greek Mythology. If you like heart-pounding action, high-stakes drama, and all things alien and sci-fi, you’ll love Ben’s new book. Ages: 11+
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REVIEWS
Check reviews for "2020" below:
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Reviewed by William McGinn for Reedsy Discovery
The kind of books I liked to read when I was a child and preteen were fast-paced, not too overbearingly long or complicated, and had a story driven by relatable emotion. That’s exactly what 2020 is, sprinkled with some extra surprises along the way. Unironically, this title is also the coronavirus commencement year, and for the first few weeks when it hit where I live, I wondered if the world was coming to an end, if this was the year I’d die, and what sort of people we’d become as the apocalypse hit. If the virus were much deadlier, or, even better, if the planet were to crash into the sun as it’s to do so in this book, I completely bought the attitude of the bad guys and their army of looters and conspiracy theory followers. (That isn’t to say I was rooting for them or anything.) The story is also extremely convincing. Climate change is something we are aware of, but our whole way of life is built around trashing the planet and there isn’t the joined motivation from world leaders to properly tackle it, and enough “leaders” fight against it for profit. Plus there are loads of secrets out there in the world and loads of possibilities humans aren’t ready for. And the possibility of aliens from space brings in the complete unknown, and a lot of people are too terrified of what they don’t understand to give an honest, non-violent look. Susan and Jacob are terrific main characters. What I like so much about Jacob is he has a good balance between little kid and apocalypse survivor, slowly but willingly accepting the fact his world has shattered and he has to stay strong, like Chihiro from Spirited Away. Susan is devoted, careful and honest, who may even make kids respect their parents a little more. Spies wrote this book without an exact protagonist, giving a feeling any of them could die. Not only did that keep me on my feet, but the book twists itself when we fully expect a death to happen by playing to certain norms. Ben Spies is a fresh new author who has real intelligence and passion about the world. He deserves to go far. ______________________________________________________________________ Reviewed by Jo Lucre for the Regional News Ben Spies, a seasoned author at 13, delivers an entertaining and action-packed read with his science fiction novel 2020. 2020 is full of surprises and I can’t help but think it’s all the more on-point and enjoyable for pre-teen readers, having been written by one of their peers. Spies wrote his first book at nine-years-old, and on hearing this particular piece of trivia, I could see the possibilities unfold before my eight-year-old’s eyes. Impressed he was. In 2020 the Earth’s orbit is moving precariously close to the sun, with the planet heating up to unsurvivable levels. A spacecraft aptly named Salvos, a nod to salvation, is NASA’s hope for saving the human race. It’s a vessel for transporting them to another more habitable planet, but sadly, Salvos is not meant to be. All is not what it seems in 2020. There’s espionage, shapeshifting extraterrestrials, and top-secret bunkers, and the plot thickens trying to decipher everyone’s intentions... are they malicious or misunderstood? Spies sets an exciting pace with alternating chapters between the perspectives of Susan Dawes and her son Jacob as they fight to survive amidst the chaos. I was remiss not reading the age recommendation of 11+ before reading 2020 to my son, but nevertheless it was very much enjoyed and it was too late to turn back when I realised he was already hooked. “It was awesome cause it was gruesome,” was the general consensus from him, and it is fair to say this sentiment, though a little exaggerated, is spot-on. Some bits are best suited for a slightly older audience. Who would have thought the whole fight for survival in an apocalyptic world would be so entertaining? And it was the bits perhaps not suited to an eight-year-old that seemed to be all the more appealing! 2020 offers lots of suspense for pre-teen readers, and its rapidly moving pace only adds to the urgency. The race is on to save humanity. The only question is, will Susan and Jacob survive? |
Maureen H
5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive! December 15, 2019 For a book written by a teenager, this is a great accomplishment! It is definitely worth the read, especially if you have a young sci-fi fan in your life. As an adult, I can tell it's written by a very young author. The story is engaging I found it very difficult to put down. I would advise this young author to continue writing and maybe someday, give this one a rewrite to really flesh it out. Melanie 5.0 out of 5 stars AMAZING! - Review by 10 year old November 16, 2019 Review by my son who is 10 years old: "AMAZING! There's plenty of action, mystery, surprise and much more! Really reminds me of that cool fighter jet game at Chuck E. Cheese. |
