Future Friend is bestselling author David Baddiel's first foray into writing science fiction and it's a brilliant entry into the genre with fabulous illustrations by Steven Lenton.
This is a time-slip narrative featuring Rahul (remember him from The Taylor Turbochaser?) in 2019 and Pip 1001 years ahead in 3020.
Eleven year-old Pip@256X#YY.3_7 (@256X#YY.3_7 is her family name as nearly all communication outside the home happens via computers) is lonely and bored: she goes to virtual school on her G-Glasses, she only has a talking cat and parrot to hang out with, and she can’t even leave her LivingSpace due to the extreme heat and floods outside.
Until the day that Pip explores a glowing ring in a lab and finds herself in a warehouse, in 2019. Where she meets boy-inventor Rahul – who is also lonely and bored. Together, Rahul and Pip are no longer lonely. But they have a whole load of new problems, including hiding talking animals from Rahul’s parents, and finding a way back to the future. Plus – just maybe – saving the world…
The theme of loneliness may well resonate with children who have been unable to go to school and we all yearn for a perfect friend even if, in this case, she comes from the future.
The writing is perfectly pitched for both boys and girls in middle grades. The friendship between the two characters is engaging and uplifting – just what we all need at the moment.
PWT rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
Future Friend: The new Bestselling Baddiel Blockbuster children's book in 2020