Nova

By Author / Illustrator

Chris Bradford, Charlotte Grange

Genre

Science Fiction

Age range(s)

Publisher

Barrington Stoke

ISBN

9780008700515

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

12-02-2026

Synopsis

When Max's life-craft is pulled into a wormhole, he needs a whole galaxy of luck to return to safety . . . Chris Bradford crafts Interstellar for kids in this space-bending survival story.

Max Nova is headed to Mercury with his father, a space trucker, when their ship is suddenly diverted. They have a new urgent mission. An abnormal gravity reading has been detected near the sun. There are fears that this could signal the start of a supernova!

But what Max and his father discover is much more dangerous - and far stranger - than any supernova. Flung to the outer reaches of the universe, Max must navigate a galaxy of dangers to find his way home before time runs out!

Particularly suitable for readers aged 9+ with a reading age of 7. Dyslexia-friendly.

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Reviews

Ruth

Chris Bradford's latest offering is an adventure in space. Nova manages to provoke a range of emotions from terror to happiness, curiosity to celebration. The protagonist, Max Nova, is travelling to Mercury with his trucker father when disaster strikes and Max is released in an emergency space craft by his Dad to save his life. Transported through a worm hole, the adventure for Max really begins with new life forms and an alternate space time continuum. The ending is both happy and sad, bringing the story full circle, but watch out for the twist!

Nova offers older primary school aged children and lower secondary school aged students an exciting science fiction read in only 79 pages. The dyslexia friendly font and format makes this an accessible read for those children who struggle with reading or who are reluctant readers. The book is well spaced out with short sentences, paragraphs and chapters. The illustrations by Charlotte Grange help to break the pages up as well as adding visual clues to enable the reader to better understand the story.

The front cover is extremely eye catching and would make Nova a great forward facing book, particularly when shelved with Chris Bradford’s other two space stories. Highly recommended for readers of 9+years.

80 pages / Reviewed by Ruth Cornish, school librarian