PG- Maria Looney and the Red Planet (very slight v), Mathew Looney's Voyage to the Earth, Mathew Looney in the Outback (slight v), Maria Looney and the Remarkable Robot
Beatty is the author of a series of children's books about a pair of siblings, Mathew and Maria Looney. They happen to live in the town of Crater Pluto, on the moon, but otherwise are quite normal children. Their father works in the powder factory, but Matt (along with his archrival Hector) wants to go into the military like his uncle Rear Admiral Looney. Maria, his younger sister, prefers playing sports after school and getting in trouble with her best friend and rival, Hester. Together, they face Space Pirates, a war between the Moon and Mars, the discovery of life on Earth, and the invasion of an Earth circus.
While many of Beatty's settings were scientifically bogus even as he was writing, it hardly seems to matter. Even older kids and adults will enjoy his tongue-in-cheek description of the Lunar landing- from a Looney's point of view. His setting delightfully turns everything we think we know about the moon on its head, and he tells a great story in the process. If you can actually get copies of these books anymore, do it. The 10-year-old in your life will love you for it.
Mathew Looney's Voyage to the Earth was one of the first books I read in the series. It's not the best, but it has a cute plot. Matt applies to be cabin-boy on his uncle's expedition to the moon, but Hector also applies. When Matt gets the position, Hector gets angry and tries to find a way to sabatoge Matt's good fortune. Though the Moonbeam II reaches the Earth's South Pole successfully, they find no evidence of life. Added to Hector's scheme, this could spell disaster for the Loonies who don't want to blow up Earth- and disaster for Matt's and Uncle Lucky's chances of staying in the military!
My personal favorite was Maria Looney and the Red Planet, in which Maria's rivalry with Hester takes a new twist. Both girls want to write the best project for school that they can, but they both choose Mars as a topic, and Hester gets all the books from the library first. Maria starts by interviewing the last known independent prospector from the place, Old Digger, but his refusal to tell her much leads her to take the trip herself. She feels a little guilty about lying to do it, but it seems the only way to learn anything about the mysterious Red Planet. When she reaches the Lunar plantations there, however, she finds they hardly produce any food at all, and that the Lunar government is hiding something that has to do with the secretive natives of the planet, who were defeated in war long ago. Before the trip is over, Maria's very life will be in danger from the natives and her own people, and she will learn secrets that will shock the Lunar nation!
Once more the Earth has invaded the moon! This time, in Mathew Looney in the Outback, the United States wants to take over the moon by force. Could it mean war? Mathew and Maria join the effort to create a military base to use against the Earth in case of attack. But there are plots afoot, and no one quite knows what anyone else really plans to do.... This isn't the best Looney book, but the plot is important if you're following the series.
Maria Looney is on yet another adventure. In Maria Looney and the Remarkable Robot, she visits the polar regions of the moon, where she discovers a robot created by a mad scientist. The robot seems frightening at first, but he and Maria soon become friends. But how is a robot to fit in on the moon? What should he do with himself? Is he just a toy, or is he a person with a special place of his own? This was another of my favorites, well written and touching.
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Last Updated: July 21, 1999
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