What I Did on My Hypergalactic Interstellar Summer Vacation

by Adam Beechen, Dan Hipp (Illustrations)

Teddy dreads summer school and all the tedium that goes with it. Galaxies away, a young alien prince yearns for adventure outside the walls of his palace. When an alien crystal allows the two young boys to swap places, hilarity and high adventure ensue as one attempts to stop a coup on another planet while the other attempts to fit in with earthlings and school cliques.

129 pages, Hardcover

First published June 10, 2006

About the author

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Bee...

Writer Adam Beechen is the author of several comic books, including Robin and Justice League Unlimited . Adam also writes for tv on such shows as Teen Titans, The Batman and is the story editor on HiHi Puffy Ami Yumi for Cartoon Network.

Reviews

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com

Have you ever wanted to have an adventure in space? Have you ever dreamed of being a prince on another planet and having to fight evil aliens? Well, Teddy did--and he got his wish in this wonderful adventure story.

Teddy has only science summer school waiting for him after the last bell of the semester. He spends most of his time pondering about what it would be like to fight aliens and to travel in outer space. When he gets home there is an alien in his room. They decide to trade places...and Teddy ends up with the vacation of a life time. The alien is a prince from the planet Manoosh, and Teddy finds more than he expected there. Love and adventure await him.

The author and illustrator are both comic book writers, and there are a lots of wonderful illustrations in this book. It is a short story, but there is a lot of drama and comedy involved. It was a good twist on the classic story of the PRINCE AND THE PAUPER written by Mark Twain. If you like this story then check out that one; you may like it.

I would have liked to have heard more about the alien's adventures here on Earth--but maybe next time! So if being here on this planet is not very interesting, check out this adventure and go to the planet Manoosh!

[Jonathon Dabell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short and simple sci-fi story - essentially a novella - with stunning illustrations by Dan Hipp. The plot is a futuristic, intergalactic clone of The Prince And The Pauper, with a smart but unmotivated teenager swapping places with the prince of alien planet Manoosh, just as a civil uprising threatens to dislodge the royal family on this weird 'n' wonderful far-off planet. Adam Beechen's style is fast and fluent, with little in the way of development but good touches of imagination, humour and pace. Better yet, Dan Hipp's black and white comic-style illustrations are simply incredible and add much to the appeal of the book. If star ratings were available for illustrations, this one would score a 5, hands down! Hardly the most profound thing you'll read this year, but overall What I Did On My Hypergalactic Interstellar Summer Vacation is good, quick, clean fun.

[Jessica Buike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic starter sci-fi book for the young adult crowd! It has all the elements you want - space travel, aliens, military coup plots and bad meatloaf - in an easy to read, cutely illustrated book. I loved everything except for the overuse of the phrase "Aw Jeez"! Still a great little read when you want something short and fast.