Holtz went onto the lunar surface without his helmet properly affixed, simple as that. Dash senses there's foul play afoot, but no one believes him. Then Moon Base Alpha’s top scientist turns up dead. Kids aren't allowed on the lunar surface, meaning they're trapped inside the tiny moon base with next to nothing to occupy their time - and the only other kid Dash's age spends all his time hooked into virtual reality games. Like his fellow lunarnauts - otherwise known as Moonies - living on Moon Base Alpha, twelve-year-old Dashiell Gibson is famous the world over for being one of the first humans to live on the moon.Īnd he's bored out of his mind. June Weltman is author of 'Mystery of the Missing Candlestick' and a Jacksonville mystery writing instructor.It's a murder mystery on the moon in this humorous and suspenseful space adventure from the author of Belly Up and Spy School. Gibbs also received an Edgar nomination for his 2013 'Spy School.' 'Space Case' is a 2015 Edgar Award Nominee for Best Juvenile Mystery. Roddy's parents are Indian and Latino, Kira's Asian and blackĪuthor Stuart Gibbs includes interesting scientific information about space travel and the moon.

He observes most of the kids he has known are 'some shade of brown.' His mom is black and his dad, white. 'Space Case' is a fast-moving, suspenseful story with a mind-tingling ending.ĭash adds wry humor, from descriptions of Roddy, a kid who lives mostly in a computer-generated world, to super-rich Nordic tourist kids, to his little sister's antics, to Kira trying to walk in lower gravity.ĭash lives in a time of great diversity. The arrival of a supply spaceship brings a new friend, Kira, 12, who wants to help find the killer. But Dash finds too many suspects not to keep investigating. The base commander orders Dash not to discuss his suspicions. He doesn't believe it was an accident or suicide. The next morning, Dash learns Holtz died during an unauthorized moon walk. Most of all, he's bored.īut that's only until he makes a late-night run to the 'evil' suction-like toilets in the communal bathroom and overhears Holtz, a scientist, telling someone he's made 'the most important discovery in all of human history.' He plans to announce it tomorrow. Instead, he sleeps in a pod that resembles a 'tomb,' and the food is dehydrated. He expected great accommodations and food. It's 2041, and it's 12-year-old Dashiell 'Dash' Gibson's 188th day on the first moon base.ĭash bought into all of NASA's hype about the excitement and prestige of being among the first people - scientists, their families and others - selected to live on the moon.

Space case stuart gibbs series