As a dog person, I fear for a future where the fate of Earth falls into feline hands, but Charlie seems very caring and August is technologically savvy, so their are worse saviors to have. They both know even that heroic cats are not usually the ones to save the day, so their robot is a dog! This is a nice twist, since for some reason, there are a lot of books about space CATS. (Spires' Binky the Space Cat, Brockington's Catstronauts, Dinardo's Space Cat ; even Pete the Cat has an extraterrestrial adventure!)

Princess is a brilliantly evil villain who looks cute, and her minders often irk her to such an extent that she must apply the "agony pants" to them. She doesn't seem to have as much of a plan as Marmalade in Blabey's Bad Guys vs. the Alien, but her cuteness certainly works to her advantage when bending Earthlings to her will.

This full color graphic novel has bright colors, simple lines, and a comfortable amount of text for younger readers to process. Graphic novels for older readers are often have higher reading levels, and small text that struggling readers find difficult, but like Winnick's Hilo series or

Braddock's Stinky Cecil, Sparks! has just the right amount of humor, color and robotic dogs to make it a great way for a young reader to pass a pleasant afternoon.