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Book Review: Cosmic
Filed under: That's Entertainment, Books
The title doesn't lie: Cosmic is that good. Credit: HarperCollins.
Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Walden Pond Press, $17)
For an adult, Frank Cottrell Boyce (author of the acclaimed Millions, which was adapted into a wonderfully moving film by director Danny Boyle) has a remarkable talent for writing in the voice of a child. More specifically, he manages to write narration that sounds brilliantly insightful and poetic and yet still very tween. For example, in his third novel Cosmic, the protagonist describes a woman's hair as being "as smooth and black as Playmobil."
That protagonist, 12-year-old Liam, is an endearing and extremely likable hero whose physical attributes provide one of the most promising premises I've recently seen in children's literature. Despite the fact that Liam is only in middle school, he looks likes he's 30. Ridiculously tall and sporting fresh-blooming facial hair, Liam is regularly mistaken for an adult. He generally considers this a curse until he meets a somewhat overbearing, fame-obsessed, thrill-seeking girl named Florida who points out the obvious benefits of appearing to be of legal age. Soon Liam is posing as Florida's father and trying all sorts of grown-up things, like test-driving Porsches out of a dealership.
The relationship between Liam and Florida is pleasingly complicated. At times it's antagonistic, at times codependent; sometimes filial, sometimes crush-like. They are two social misfits who need each other, and can be both very good and very bad for one another. It is through Florida's instigated father-daughter charade that the two end up involved in their greatest misadventure -- as passengers on the world's first all-child space flight, with 12-year-old Liam as the "adult" chaperone.
The first 80 pages or so of the book, before the plot goes cosmic, are so enjoyable, you almost wish the story didn't take its more over-the-top sci-fi turn. But Boyce provides enough rationalizations to help you happily suspend your disbelief and enjoy the rest of the ride. With a good deal of adventure, more than its fair share of laugh-out-loud moments, and plenty of heartfelt poignancy, Cosmic is a magically delightful reading experience.
Related: Book Review: The Boy in the Dress
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