(4) 4-6 George's Secret Key series. Illustrated by Garry Parsons. This fifth installment finds friends George and Annie at an elite space camp battling an evil villain intent on ruling the solar system. Character development and plot come second to the science, but lots of danger, robots, and a peek at Jupiter's moon Europa should hold series fans' attention. As usual, relevant scientific essays appear throughout but may be beyond some readers' interest level.

Reviewer: Renée Wheeler

(4) 4-6 George's Secret Key series. Illustrated by Garry Parsons. In their fourth story, science-minded friends George and Annie search for a mysterious UFO-based hacker after glitches in major computer systems worldwide cause chaos, including Cosmos, the computer that facilitates their interstellar travel. The characters are plot vehicles for the sophisticated science; essays from prominent scientists expounding on computer science and robotics are interspersed in pullout pages that, while fascinating, disrupt the flow.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Garry Parsons. George and Annie search for the most suitable home in the Universe for a pet pig. But soon, aided by Annie's Large Hadron Collider–scientist father, they're trying to thwart an evil scientist's plan to destroy everything. This lively third adventure is interspersed with illustrated lectures on contemporary theories by eminent scientists, all lucid but considerably denser than the predictable framing story.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Garry Parsons. In this sequel to George's Secret Key to the Universe, friends George and Annie (daughter of a Global Space Agency scientist) again venture through the universe, this time to investigate possible extraterrestrial contact. Contrived dialogue and precious plotting hamper the story, but the interspersed essays--contributed by leading scientists--are inspiring, communicating both basic concepts and thrilling frontiers. Stunning photos are interspersed.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Garry Parsons. With Christophe Galfard. An amiable supercomputer allows George and Annie to explore space--up close and personal. An evil science teacher provides the requisite peril, but narrative plays second fiddle to a cogent synopsis of the fundamentals of astronomy and physics. The science is enthusiastically described and accessible but poorly integrated into the formulaic story. Includes glossy full-color captioned images of the universe.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross