Skip to footer

Cleopatra in Space, Book 1: Target Practice

A teenage version of the Egyptian queen has a star-spanning adventure.

Cleopatra in Space, Book 1: Target Practice, by Mike Maihack, Scholastic, Inc., 176 pp.
  • By Rich Clabaugh Staff

Fifteen-year-old Cleopatra, destined to rule ancient Egypt, is whisked far, far into the future where she finds out that she's also destined to save the Nile Galaxy from the evil Xaius Octavian. That's the premise of Cleopatra in Space, a new graphic novel series by writer/artist Mike Maihack for Scholastic's Graphix line.

Cleo (as she likes to be called) is greeted by a talking cat, Khensu, and joins  P.Y.R.A.M.I.D. but (much to her chagrin) still has to deal with homework as she attends Yasiro Academy. There she meets her fellow students, a menagerie of creatures all shapes and sizes. Her new friends, roommate Akila and Brian, help her acclimate to her new surroundings and try to keep her focused on her school work. While Cleo struggles with her studies she excels at ray-gun practice and combat training. Which is a good thing too as those skills are needed as she embarks on her first field test. 

It's refreshing to see a strong, spunky female main comic character that will appeal to both girls and boys. And even though she's an Egyptian princess in a far-off future, Cleo is still just a kid struggling with school work and trying to fit in.

Maihack is a skilled artist breathing a vibrant life into his characters, human, alien, and cat. He gives them distinct characteristics that shine through whether they are going to class or outrunning an army of aliens. The futuristic environment Maihack has created is bright and colorful with lots of cool Egyptian motifs mixed in, such as pyramid-shaped buildings, a sphinx-like flying bike, and even mummy robots. His writing is engaging as well, and all his characters have a distinct, unique voice whether the scene is humorous, exciting, or heartwarming.

"Cleopatra in Space" will be great summer reading for ages 8 and up.

So where's our galaxy galloping gal off to next? I can't wait to find out!

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Cleopatra in Space, Book 1: Target Practice
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/2014/0521/Cleopatra-in-Space-Book-1-Target-Practice
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe