George's cosmic treasure hunt by Lucy and Stephen Hawking

Random House, 2009.
(Age 9+) In an exciting new adventure, we see the return of George and Annie following the success of Lucy and Stephen's first novel George's Secret Key to the Universe.
George is devastated when his best friend and fellow space adventurer Annie moves to the United States with her family. It isn't long before George receives an invitation to join Annie and he soon realises all is not as it seems. Annie needs George's help to solve clues that she believes are being left by aliens and soon another mission to outer space is underway. We're introduced to a new friend, a computer genius named Emmett who drives the inseparable pair crazy to begin with, before they realise Emmett's invaluable skills to get the super computer Cosmos working again so they can solve the clues and save planet Earth.
As with the original story, the authors have cleverly weaved fact and fiction together. Annie's scientist father Eric provides George with a unique book The User's Guide to the Galaxy, which contains interesting space facts in simple dialogue. The middle of the book contains some incredible photographs of space. These visual stimulations are further enhanced by fantastic illustrations by Garry Parsons.
With a return of favourite characters including the evil Dr Reeper, this sequel is sure to delight space adventurers all over again. The factual boxes appear intermittently throughout the story and The User's Guide to the Galaxy has been used cleverly to blend these in with the main story. Stunning pictures, factual information presented in a simple manner, a great adventure story and a lesson in forgiveness combine to make this a fantastic novel for young readers. This is a highly recommended book for boys and girls, especially those reluctant readers and children beginning to explore novels.
Alison Woodward