Parents' Guide to

Zita the Spacegirl

By Sierra Filucci, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 7+

Brave girl seeks missing friend in exciting graphic novel.

Book Ben Hatke Science Fiction 2011
Zita the Spacegirl Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

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age 6+

Based on 3 parent reviews

Primprim
Primprim Parent of 7 and 12-year-old
October 25, 2018
age 8+

Great action adventure

I read this to my 7 year old daughter and she loved everything about it. It is a fun book that kept me entertained. I was a little bothered by the language and some of the violence. I just had to censor things a bit. I didn't realize it would be so much but, the great story makes up for all of it. We are currently reading the last book in the series and I am sad that it is coming to an end. I have now added other books by Hatke to our "want to read" list.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
Lena H.
Lena H. Parent of 11-year-old
January 26, 2018
age 5+

Great for kids of all ages

This is a fun, fast-paced and yet emotionally deep story of a brave girl and her brother who are whisked through a portal into space. The aliens are imaginative and fun, and the art is whimsical and engaging. The story has a strong female main character who both girls and boys can relate to. Her loyalty, sense of right and wrong, kindness, and bravery will have anyone rooting for her. Great book for kids.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Young Zita and her friend Joseph stumble upon a red button in an asteroid crater, and when Zita pushes the button, Joseph is swept away in a big flash of light by creepy tentacles. After following Joseph into the unknown, Zita arrives on a strange planet full of aliens and robots, all who are concerned about the impending asteroid strike to their planet. As she searches the planet for her friend, she meets several friendly misfits, like the helpful but not-too-bright Strong Strong, a giant mouse that she rides on, and a resentful robot named One. She also finds a fellow human space traveler named Piper, who may or may not help her find her friend and get back home.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3):
Kids say (2):

Elements of The Wizard of Oz and the Pied Piper story wrapped up in a wonderfully monster-populated alien world make for a captivating and suspense-filled science fiction journey for young readers. Girls especially will enjoy the normal-girl-turned-hero story that nicely ties bravery and warmheartedness together.

Author-illustrator Ben Hatke's characters are a mix of realistic and fantastical, which makes Zita lots of fun to look at. Pre-reading kids can probably follow the story thanks to the clean but detailed panels, but it will be lots of fun to read aloud, too. And the darker elements, which might turn younger kids off, are still whimsical enough (thanks to lots of cute aliens and robots) to lighten the mood for most kids.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about heroes. What kinds of heroes are your favorites? What do heroes usually look and act like? What kind of hero is Zita?

  • What makes a good graphic novel? What's the difference between a comic and a graphic novel? If you wrote a graphic novel, what would it be about?

  • Does this story remind you of any others from books or movies? When is it OK to take parts of another story and make it your own? What is that not OK?

Book Details

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