The Secret Explorers and the Comet Collision

The Secret Explorers #2

by S.J. King

Blast-off into space in this second adventure with The Secret Explorers, a brand-new fiction series.This group of brilliant kids come together from all four corners of the globe to fix problems, solve mysteries, and gather knowledge all over the planet - and beyond. Whenever their help is needed, a special sign will appear on a door. They step through to the Exploration Station and receive their mission...In The Secret Explorers and the Comet Collision, space expert Roshni leads a mission that's out of this world - literally! With rainforest expert Ollie, she is set the task of fixing the space probe orbiting Jupiter before a comet hits the planet. With the clock ticking, it's a race against time for the Secret Explorers as they dodge asteroids, complete daring spacewalks, and use all their skills to complete their mission.Packed with fun illustrations and facts about real-life missions to Jupiter, this thrilling adventure is perfect for young readers. Informative diagrams tell kids all they need to know about important elements of the story, such as how spacesuits work. The action-packed narrative keeps kids engaged and makes learning about space even more fun!

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Adventure, Middle Grade, Chapter Books, Stem, Audiobook

128 pages, Paperback

Published July 7, 2020

Reviews

[Dianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This ticks the main boxes for my seven-year-old: science and adventure. It's on the high end of the quality scale for books at this level. It's diverse and educational, and fun and exciting enough to keep my son's attention. My favorite part: no gross jokes or body humor.

Is it perfect? No. The diversity feels contrived, and science is stretched a bit to make the adventure happen (Saturn to Jupiter in ten minutes!), but adventure-wise, it's perfect for my son's crowd. I'll definitely be grabbing more of these for him to read.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second in the series. This time two of the Explorers head for Jupiter to repair a probe. Their adventures offer information along with the fiction. Informative text included at the end of the book.

[Lauren Millard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new fun book series! We enjoyed this

[John Yingling · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book, mixing a very interesting storyline with fascinating doses of science.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as fun as the first one!

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant idea from the DK publishing team, I really feel like this new series fills a badly needed blank space (no pun intended) for kids who love non-fiction. Why not put the non-fiction content into an fictional rollicking adventure story? It totally works. So many facts and fun space details in this first of the Secret Explorers expeditions. This series is multicultural, packed with info, and sure to be a hit with 2nd and 3rd grade readers. Slightly more advanced reading level and more pages than the Magic Treehouse books. Move over Jack and Annie, there are some new kids in town.

[Sierra Dertinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Secret Explorers consists of 7 kids who each are an expert on a certain topic. When the kids' compass badge glows they know they have a special Secret Explorers Mission!

In The Comet Collision, space expert Roshni and rainforest expert Ollie are called to the mission. The other kids stay and have access to the control monitors to monitor the special mission and provide communications. For each mission two kids are chosen based on their expert topics, sometimes it is obvious why one is chosen but not so obvious the other until the connection is made during the mission. Roshni and Ollie shoot all the way up into the stars in a spaceship. They soon find out that their purpose is to help fix Odin, a space probe that sends feedback to Earth about comet collisions on Jupiter. But, of course, this wouldn't be a mission if there weren't some obstacles in the way. They have to dodge asteroids, risk their lives getting in their space suits to find the missing piece for Odin to work properly, AND they are on a tight schedule because a comet will hit Jupiter in less than 2 hours.

This series is so much fun! It has gorgeous cartoon-based illustrations embedded every page or two and you learn some facts about Jupiter and it's moons, space gear, and the technology instruments in space that help us learn more about the planets and solar system. This will keep readers on the edge of their seats. What's also so different about this series is that toward the end of the story the book contains factual diagrams and timelines like you would see in an expository nonfiction book and a quiz for the kids to take. I think this series will be a hit for reluctant readers and students who love a good story but also want to learn some cool facts too! I would suggest this book for emerging readers and those transitioning to chapter books/novels.

[Ula · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 out of 5 🌟Science in action

'Secret Explorers' is a new series about a group of children from around the world with scientific expertise in various topics from space through dinosaurs to volcanos. Each volume brings a new mission to resolve with the help of the most knowledgeable explorers in a particular topic. 'The Comet Collision' takes place and the chosen explorers for that mission are Roshni the space explorer, and Ollie the rain forest expert. Why a rain forest specialist in space? That would be explained during the mission!

'The Secret Explorers' are packed with action and useful information about the given topic. At the end of each book, there are a few pages with iconographic and schemas to sum and explain all the scientific data used in the story. In 'The Comet Collision' readers get to know about Saturn and its moons, space probes, and our solar system. My kid is a science-geek he really enjoyed that aspect of the book. Also, the characters are funny and likable although I couldn't get to know them well. I failed to find their personality traits. The story itself was fast and packed with action but lacked consistency with huge gaps in the storyline. One time they seemed to teleport from place to place while another time they struggled to fly from one place to the other on time.

Overall, it's a great read for storytime or to read by kids themselves as a perfect mixture of an action story, science, and friendly, diverse characters. 'The Secret Explorers' series puts an end to gender diverse children's books and can be enjoyed by everyone.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher DK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and feelings are my own.

[Heather Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great science based adventure for middle school readers. While based on hard science, it has just enough magic to make these adventures come alive the eight students involved. Love the idea of Roshni's tent turning into a portal to the Exploration Station.

This is the second adventure of the Secret Explorers; eight students with different skills and interests who help to solve scientific dilemas. Don't worry if you haven't read the first book, you can jump right in an start learning along with the explorers.

This book and series should appeal to all with an inquiring mind. The kids have to use their powers of observation, their imagination and their background knowledge to discover and solve the problems that they meet. There are no adults to help them, just a wacky shape shifting dune buggy that converses with them in beeps and boops.

This book is planned for release on July 7, 2020 along with the first book in the series The Secret Explorers and the Lost Whales. Additional titles are to be released in October 2020. It will make a great additional to all classroom libraries where students can't get enough STEM materials.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ben particularly enjoyed this one since he loves space. Solid continuation to the series, with one main character repeating from the first book and one new main character. My only complaint about the series is that considering the vocabulary, complexity (not too high), font size, illustrations, etc., the chapters feel long compared to books at a similar reading level. Fine for reading aloud, as we’re doing, but a transitional chapter book reader might not be able to get through a chapter in a sitting.

[Beth Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read aloud to my younger kids. This chapter book series has been a lot of fun so far. There are a nice variety of illustrations, informative scientific text, and a helpful teamwork backdrop for it all. This book felt a little more like an information dump at the end instead of the effortless way things were incorporated in the first book. The quiz at the end was even hard for me (it’s hard to remember how many degrees different planets are!) And you definitely have to suspend reality a bit with kids making a space walk. But we will keep reading! The next book is mummies 🙂

[Jenn Georges · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was excellent! I have many students who don't enjoy informational text. I think this is an excellent mix of fiction and nonfiction and can easily engage a fiction reader. Students can learn a lot from this series of books. I will be getting a copy once it is published. This is a great book for students or children ages 8 and up. I would include this in a classroom library for 3-6 graders.

[Michelle (MichellesBookishLife)]

Thanks to SLJ for a review copy of this book.

The Secret Explorers are a group of kids whose mission it is to save the day. In The Secret Explorers and the Comet Collision, their mission is to travel all the way to outer space – to Jupiter, and fix the space probe when it becomes problematic. Readers can learn true facts while being entertained in this high action adventure. Can Roshni and Ollie fix the problem before time runs out?

[Goddess of Chaos · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The night hides a world, but reveals a universe."

This is a fun adventure book with kids using their brains and skills to problem solve, work together as a team, recognize the difference between wanting to do something and being the right person for the job, learning new things both about what they are interested in and what a friend is interested in, being a cheerleader and source of support for a friend and dreaming of a future where they can use what they live in a career.

[Kristin DeGarmo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good in between chapter book and middle grade book for kids. The plot is simile enough and it’s educational. I learned a lot from Roshni and Ollie, the secret explorers that go on a mission into outer space. I would recommend this for kids who like to learn and have a hard time reading fiction. To my knowledge this series does not need to be read in order.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the concept of this, it's very very cool, and I can see it being very popular with kids. The writing was altogether not great, but I have an ARC so hopefully some of the messier bits will be cleaned up by the publishing date. Very cool, and I learned somethings too!

[Whitney Hollis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great to read aloud to my space-loving 4 year old son. It’s diverse, filled with adventure, and very educational. It complimented our nature study on the night sky extremely well. We will definitely read more from the Secret Explorer series.

[Ines Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

We really liked the Secret Explorers series first book, even though it started off a bit slow. This one goes full blast from the beginning! Lots of learning about space. Perfect for my 2nd grader. Highly recommend!

[DC · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was informative and held interest for my rising 3rd grader. The characters are bland and flat and the premise of the "Secret Explorer" group is not explained. (Also, why does it have to be secret??)

[Lisa D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the quiz at the end to see what I remember.

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I received a physical ARC of this book from the publisher at an ALA conference.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun adventure story with a diverse cast of characters, significant amount of science, and lots of positivity and teamwork.

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the second book of the series, they travel into outer space to explore Jupiter’s rings. This series is great because children learn why being entertained.

[PottWab Regional Library]

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[Jenny Claiborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC from School Library Journal and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Roshni is a member of a secret team of kids, each an expert in a different field. She is the Space Explorer and is chosen, along with Ollie, the Rainforest Explorer, to travel into space to fix a problem with a probe.

Such a fun adventure for young readers. I love books that offer tidbits of knowledge as part of the story and this book does just that. Readers will learn about planets, moons, comets, and more.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new adventure! In space! This time, travel along with the secret explorers as they visit Jupiter and learn about space! An excellent read. Very fun!

[E.A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teachable-book-a-week #10

A very quick read for me. In some ways a tad childish for teenage EFL learners, but because of its accessibility perhaps still usable, especially for those interested in space/science.

[blueygurl2016 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay but not my favorite. I don’t know if I’ll read any more of the series. This series is trying too hard to be diverse.