First Look As Top Shelf Takes To The Stars With ‘Cosmic Cadets: Contact’

Time to strap in for a colourful, action-packed space adventure about friendship, family, and fear of the unknown in Cosmic Cadets: Contact!

The latest Top Shelf middle-grade book comes out at the end of April, designed for potential space cadets ages 9 and up, Mimi Alves and Ben Crane present the first book in the Cosmic Cadets series.

In Cosmic Cadets: Contact, we’re in Star Trek: The Next Generation territory, with humanity exploring the stars on ships full of both crew and their families, including kids. Even the Captain has brought her son, Jimmil, on board – although sometimes she wishes she hadn’t, given that he’s impetuous and manages to continually fail to live up to his mom’s expectations.

Anyway, in this first volume of the Cosmic Cadets series, Jimmil and his friends manage to end up down on the surface of a new planet. Time for Jimmil to step up – especially as they find out that the race of creatures on the planet have terrifying secrets. Next thing you know, the kids are right in the middle of things and could be all that stands in the way of a war.

Yep, Ben Crane and Mimi Alves’ first graphic novel has that thrilling adventure thing going on, loads of colourful pages, great cartooning, a gently threatening tale, heartfelt moments, discovering what it means to be a hero – perfect for the pre-teen audience that’s out there and who adore this sort of well-crafted graphic novel.

Here’s Top Shelf’s PR for Cosmic Cadets…

“Humanity has gone to the stars, and the ESS Khonsu and its crew are leading the charge to explore the galaxy. As the son of the ship’s captain, Jimmil might not always live up to his mom’s expectations… but right now he and his friends might be the galaxy’s only hope. After they’re stranded on a strange alien planet, they’ll have to do what their parents couldn’t: explore the surface, discover the secrets of the terrifying race that lives there, and try to prevent a full-scale war! Working together, these Cadets will discover that sometimes being a hero means learning to see new perspectives, and sometimes bravery means admitting when you’re wrong.”

Cosmic Cadets (Book One): Contact!

By Ben Crane & Mimi Alves

Published by Top Shelf Prodcutions on April 25th 2023