Space Case (Moon Base Alpha)

Dashiell Gibson, known as Dash, is actually bored and annoyed at living on the moon! Who would have thunk it? The food is bad, space is tight, the facilities are lacking and the low gravity takes a lot of getting used to. Like Teddy Fitzroy in the author's earlier book, BELLY UP, Dash clues in to a crime (human murder this time!) When Moon Base Alpha's doctor turns up dead, only Dash suspects he might not have walked out of the air lock willingly. With the help of fellow 12-year-old Kira, Dash persists in examining the circumstance of Dr. Holtz's death. Dash's narration seems perfect for the 10 to 12 year old funny bone, with most of a chapter devoted to bathroom habits in zero gravity.

A great choice for tweens, especially those who have enjoyed Gibbs' earlier books, such as SPY CAMP and SPY SCHOOL. Offer to fans of Carl Hiaasen (HOOT, FLUSH and more) as well. The ending points directly to a sequel, so fans should stay tuned.

About me: I'm a middle school/high school librarian
How I Got This Book: purchased for the library

Previous to this – my 11-year old son liked “Poached” the best of Stuart Gibbs’ books. He liked “Space Case” even better – so we are both hopeful this is the start of a series.

The main character of “Space Case” is Dashiell – a young boy who parents were chosen to go to Moon Base Alpha – the first colony on the moon. It’s supposed to be nice and a great adventure – but it turns out not to be anything like that.
Dashiell gets involved in a mystery regarding the death of Dr. Ronald Holtz. Everyone else thinks he died as a result of an accident – but Dashiell suspects foul play. No one believes him – and other people are trying to keep him quiet.

My son really enjoyed this book – he thought the best part was when Dashiell solves the case. He read it very quickly – and again – we both hope there are follow up novels.

Disclaimer – As an aspiring middle-grade and YA writer, I’m reading this book through the lenses of the target reader (10 y/o), writer, and adult reading a middle-grade novel.

Minor spoilers below:

Space Case is a mystery novel that takes place in the first colony on the moon. It is chock FULL of great details about living on the moon! It takes things into account like gravity, toilet operation, weight and space allowances, etc. In terms of providing a setting, Space Case doesn’t fail, ever. You’ll learn while you’re reading, and this book is a GREAT inspirational starting point for any child with a remotely engaged interest in NASA, space colonizing, or near-futurism. Also, as parent, I found nothing objectionable.

The protagonist is hyper-proactive, intelligent, and decently fleshed out. He has a good “voice.” It’s deceptively good and distracts from the plot weaknesses. The other characters inhabiting the moon base... are not so fleshed out. You have the “reverse racism” of the rich, mean and entitled white family (everyone else on the base is of mixed heritage.. and the book goes at length to point this out), the doughy computer nerd, the hip and edgy girl, and the adults... who are all mostly interchangeable. Adults exist to provide lots of exposition, occasional tension, and handy authority figures to rebel against.

Plotwise - many things seem to happen (or not happen) for convenience sake.

Dash spends a lot of time – a LOT of time – tediously walking from point A to point B in this tiny moon base in order to talk to or find someone. Everyone has smartwatches on this moon base, but almost nobody apparently sends texts (“wr u at?”) or makes calls (“Where are you?” “I’m in science lab.” “Ok! I’ll come over”). This could have been solved by simply saying that on-base smartwatch communications were locked down after the murder, but I don’t recall that ever coming up.

Adults are only around when they need to provide information; they are suspiciously absent whenever something dangerous could or does occur... yet we’re told repeatedly that this base is small, tiny, cramped. Heck, there’s even a map of it in the front cover indicating how cozy it actually is.

The security system on the moonbase – the first moonbase ever, and billions of dollars in property of NASA and private investors- apparently has password encryption on level of “the combination is 1-2-3,” because it seems VERY easy for anyone and everyone to get secure info, erase info, control cameras, robots, etc. And while we’re told that there’s “cameras everywhere,” these cameras never seem to catch any information that would be relevant – except at the very end.

And the end... Which for an adult is disappointing, and as a child reader I would find very frustrating.

Let’s just say the murderer is the person you’d least expect because... well, s/he spends virtually no time on the page at all. “Suspense by character omission” is essentially what the mystery is. There’s also the set-up for a sequel (literally on par with introducing the Great Gazoo from the Flinstones) which feels completely grafted on and flies in the face of science, logic, etc... which is doubly painful since the author takes great, great pains to make Moonbase Alpha feel as realistic as possible.

All in all – for a kid, it’s an ok, informative ride, which may or may not be frustrating at the end. The main character is solid, likable, and they’ll enjoy spending time with him. But the Space Case is one or two re-writes from greatness.

Dash lives with his family, two scientist parents and an effusively happy little sister, as one of the first families on the moon. As you can imagine, this is an extremely interesting setting and the author/narrator brings it to life, with twenty-some characters and a murder also in the mix.

My kids and I were big fans of other books by the author like Belly Up, set in a zoo, which was really funny and a bit more whimsical. While this book isn't quite as much fun, but it would be a great book for middle schoolers interested in space travel or mysteries. The narrative voice is intelligent and friendly Dash's as he tries to investigate the death of the moon base's leader, despite most of the adults' skepticism about Dash's theories.

I think my kids are just a little too old for this book and author. Perfect for 9-12 year olds though, with a non-gory crime and nonviolent resoultion.

The author seems to exhibit a liberal bent, advocating for science, education and diversity.

i was filled with suspence and curiousness about who killed Dr. Holtz! the only part i did not like is why i rated it four stars. the part i did not like was when they were (spoiler alert) figuring out the sign language and it said "Earth is killing me". There are some reasons i could uplift that, you wont want to here my reasons. ill tell you 3 reasons now: 1 Donald Trump could still be president. 2 Someone killed his family members. 3 Your Face (oooooooooohhhhhhhhh!!!!!) but hey. its a great book. just put a little bit of a content warning because some people are just very sensitive to reading somthing that sounds like (this is not a hate rant) "oh Dr. Holtz suffocated becuase of a little trouble with his helmet."but over all i (personally) would reccomend this book to other people. also, thank you, Stewart Gibbs. ive read all of your books so far. if i had your email, id send you all the books of people trying to "jump" onto you banwagon.

My eight year old son and I *both* absolutely loved this new book by Stuart Gibbs. Admittedly, my son was hooked from the very first chapter that explained - in detail (ahem) - the intricacy of using a toilet while living on Moon Base Alpha, haha. (Toilet humor...all boys seem to love this.) But the combination of a story set in the not-too-distant future, a kid living on a colony on the moon, and a murder mystery all rolled into one? Yeah, we have a winner. Stuart Gibbs has an awesome writing style that just translates well for kids (okay, for me, too). It's engaging and a ton of fun. So I'm going to highly, highly recommend this book. If you've got a child who perhaps is a reluctant reader because you just can't find the "right" book to engage him or her? This may very well be that book. Give it a shot....it was a big hit in this house.

Gibbs has created a super fun murder mystery. That shouldn't be put into the same sentence, but it's my general impression of the book. Dash has been forced to leave Hawaii and live on the first moon colony. Because of this, he complains bitterly about everything. This and the day-to-day activities actually lead to some humor. On top of that, Dr. Holtz who is super excited about something ends up dead the next morning. The official story is that he didn't have his suit on correctly, but who really believes that. This propels Dash into a mystery to find out if there is a murderer among them and what Dr. Holtz was so excited about. This book contains excellent characters, aspects of science fiction, and is overall an excellent read for young readers.

Dashiell Gibson has been living as one of the first humans to colonize the Moon for six months now, and he’s bored. There aren’t that many kids his age, and there is even less to do. In fact, he’s found he actually enjoys school since it gives him something to do.

All that changes one night when he overhears Dr. Holtz planning to reveal a big discovery the next morning. Only when morning arrives, Dr. Holtz is found outside the base dead. He’d gone out alone, breaking one of the biggest rules – one he always made sure others followed. Dashiell is certain that foul play was involved, yet no one else believes him, even going so far as to suggest that Dr. Holtz was beginning to go crazy. Is that why Dr. Holtz was outside? Or did someone really kill him?

Since I’ve long been a fan of the author’s books, starting this new series was an obvious choice. It’s one I’m glad I made because this is another winner. The characters are fun and the story is good. We really get to know what life on the colony would be like, yet the story is always entertaining with a nice dash of humor. And the ending? I never saw it coming.

This book will appeal to those who enjoy mystery of science fiction from the targeted middle grade age range on up. Personally, I’m already booking my rocket trip for the next entry in what promises to be another winning series.

I thoroughly enjoyed this space mystery/adventure story! Twelve year old Dash is living on Moon Base Alpha in the year 2040 with his family as both of his parents are scientists and have skills that the moon base needs. When he overhears a conversation that Dr. Holtz has and then the doctor is found dead, Dash is sure that foul play has occurred. As he tries to find out who done it, we are presented with a large array of suspects. I think kids will enjoy this book! I look forward to the next book in the series. I listened to the audio version of this book.

This is a surprisingly well written mystery set in the probably very near future. Written in the first person, Our young hero overhears a one sided phone conversation in the moon base restroom. The scientist dies under strange circumstances shortly afterwards and the lad thinks he's been murdered, but most of the adults disregard his suspicions. While this is written for 8-12 year olds, I found it a quite engrossing mystery with a neat twist at the end. Description of life on the moon base is hardly glamorous, but it is quite realistic feeling. This is great intelligent reading for kids that parents may quite well enjoy reading too.

"Space Case: Moon Base Alpha"
Written by Stuart Gibbs
Houghton Mifflin
. . . . .

Note: mild spoilers below
. . . . .

This was a fun, compelling crime/adventure story set in the near future where a fatal accident (or was it a murder?) has happened on humanity's first moon colony. The closest there is to an actual witness is twelve-year old Dashiell Gibson, an average tweenage kid in the year 2041... He's tech-savvy but not a screen zombie, a little cynical but he likes his parents, basically a good kid who runs afoul of the grownup power structure when he starts asking too many questions about the death of Moon Base Alpha's charismatic lead scientist.

Highlights of this book include a fairly realistic picture of future space exploration, albeit as seen through the eyes of a bored kid, and an engaging narrative that features several compelling characters. There are several strong female characters, and though Dashiell gets along well with girls, there is no explicit romantic interest (which is nice) although there is a fair amount of potty humor frontloaded into the opening chapters, where Dash complains about the moon base's malfunctioning bathrooms and dehydrated food, but this grossout talk recedes into the background when the murder mystery kicks in, and mainly serves to hook kids in and ultimately as contrast to Dash's later behavior when he outgrows his grumpiness and disaffection. The tech described in the book seems realistic, and largely built on what we have now, so fans of realistic sci-fi should appreciate that.

A great read-aloud book, with briskly paced chapters that were just the right length for one or two chapters a night. Recommended! (DJ Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain childrens' book reviews)

Super fun! Loved the world building and the diversity of the cast. Smart main character. Good mystery. Nice twists! Definitely didn't know who to suspect and who not to. And there was enough of a twist at the end I need to read the next one.

Another fun story from Stuart Gibbs. As with Poached, this story to me reads a lot like a preteen/tween TV show. Unsurprising, as Gibbs has been involved in show development at both Nickelodeon and Disney.

The setting is a little fantastic but not outrageously so...you actually require more suspension of disbelief watching an episode of Friends than you need to read this story. Certain details of the setting ring true as logical consequences of living on a moon base. I found the dialogue very much appropriate to the characters and the audience - indeed, both my eight year old daughter and eleven year old son tore through this book in the space of a couple of days.

It's a fun and approachable story for the target audience and indeed for middle aged fathers as well.

This was a fun murder mystery science fiction book. Everything is told through a child's perspective as he tries to solve the mystery. I read this book in a day, as it was meant for a young child. The pace was brisk and not overly descriptive. I thought it was witty and humorous and the author did a good job narrating the adventure in space.

I enjoyed it and I think a young child would too.

Nice turn on the future. I find it really fascinating how a couple of kids can find the craziest clues to solve a murder. I would never think of sign language, never less finfding the phone! 4.5 stars!!!

This is a very funny murder mystery book that takes place in space. The lead character is very funny and tells it like it is. The book is seen through the eyes of a teenager and he tells exactly how the space stay is and exactly how it was not what his family was told. I will definetly read more by this author and hope he continues this series and group of characters.

Notice my title is in all caps? Thats because this book really was amazing.Dashell Gibson talks about his horrible life on the moon. Then it gets even worse when Dr. Holtz (a scientist and resident on the moon) dies by walking on the moon by himself. Dash thinks its a murder even though NASA trys to tell people it was an accident. This thrilling story also has lots of funny opinions (from Dash) about living on the moon. This is a great book.You should definitely try it.

Award winning writer for ages 9-13! I purchased this for one of my grandsons, and he liked it so much I bought it again when my second grandson reached the age to read it! They also have written the second book in the series,"Moon Base Alpha", still in hardcover, that I bought also.

I love reading Stuart Gibbs other books, and this one is no exception. Maybe not quite as action oriented as others, but he is still a great author and fun to read

The BIG problem I have with this book is the racist overtones. Set in 2041, the author goes out of his way to make it clear that almost everyone by that time is brown. In other words everyone has interbred and there are only brown skinned people left. And most if not all the characters on the moon base are brown skinned or black. EXCEPT the rude, mean, obnoxious tourists, who are pale white, blue eyed, blond haired. How much more racist can you get? Turned around the other way (all the main characters are white, blond, blue eyed, and the mean rude "villains" are black or mixed race) there would be screams of racism and this book would never have been published, and if for some reason it was, it would be banned or heavily criticized.

I am so sick of the media (movies, books, tv, internet) making white people out to be evil, and blacks and mixed race out to never do any wrong. There is no need for it, ESPECIALLY in children's books. If we are all equal (as the liberals and left wingers are fond of saying) why all the white bashing in all the media? I'm really sick of it, and in this book there was absolutely no reason for it to be an issue.

I love reading Stuart Gibbs other books, and this one is no exception. Maybe not quite as action oriented as others, but he is still a great author and fun to read

The BIG problem I have with this book is the racist overtones. Set in 2041, the author goes out of his way to make it clear that almost everyone by that time is brown. In other words everyone has interbred and there are only brown skinned people left. And most if not all the characters on the moon base are brown skinned or black. EXCEPT the rude, mean, obnoxious tourists, who are pale white, blue eyed, blond haired. How much more racist can you get? Turned around the other way (all the main characters are white, blond, blue eyed, and the mean rude "villains" are black or mixed race) there would be screams of racism and this book would never have been published, and if for some reason it was, it would be banned or heavily criticized.

I am so sick of the media (movies, books, tv, internet) making white people out to be evil, and blacks and mixed race out to never do any wrong. There is no need for it, ESPECIALLY in children's books. If we are all equal (as the liberals and left wingers are fond of saying) why all the white bashing in all the media? I'm really sick of it, and in this book there was absolutely no reason for it to be an issue.

Stuart Gibbs knows the formula for writing a mystery book for elementary school-aged kids, and I'm grateful for his output. This one involves a 12-year-old kid named Dashiell who has to live on the moon because of his parents who are highly sought-after scientists for a moon colony. The story is told from Dashiell's point of view, and the style is funny in that kiddy way.

A great book for children who enjoy a mystery, but without the horror and scary nature of murder mysteries. Fans of Stuart Gibbs' other books won't be disappointed with this effort.

(written by a 6th grader). A very interesting book, with a surprising beginning. A science fiction book with...well, don't want to spoil it. Really full of suspense. The characters had good personalities. Left me wanting to read chapter after chapter. I would recommend this to other 6th graders who like thinking about the future of the moon.

I really liked Space Case because Dashell, the kid on Moonbase Alpha, reminded me of myself. When Dashell got the opportunity to go to the moon and be the first kid on the moon, he quickly wanted to join without knowing what he was getting into. When he got to Moonbase Alpha he was excited but quickly found out that is wasn't the way he thought it would be. When he got to the place he was expecting a basketball court and other nice amenities. Additionally, he said that his family and friends got attention and they didn't like it. I also sometimes think that something good will happen, but it turns out to be not as good as I thought. For example, when I took engineering I thought it would be an easy class but it's not. Engineering requires significant time to complete projects with certain expectations based on the teacher's guidelines, but just like Dashell I also continued because that's what I signed up for. In closing, I thought this book was going to be about Dashell’s life on the moon and how it was harder than he expected.

In the book Space Case the author writes some surprising parts like the murder of Dr. Holtz. When I found out about the death of Dr. Holtz I was aghast. I couldn't believe that someone would kill one of the smartest people in the world, on the moon of all places. I thought he killed himself because he was outside of the base but then clues added up. Nina, the security officer, started to act weird after the murder and she and Dashell were the only people not in their pods when the murder happened. Another clue was that Dr. Holtz was on the phone with someone right before the murder and the sounded angry. At this point, I was believing that Nina killed him. In the events leading up to the reveal, there was a little bit of foreshadowing when Dashell started finding clues. I can’t tell you who killed him but Space Case is one of the best books I have ever read.