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Mellissa Keil's 'Life In Outer Space'

1130 Words5 Pages

Question Set One
‘Life in Outer Space’ is Melissa Keil’s first young adult novel, after writing various children’s stories. This story is taken place in Melbourne, 2013. It is mentioned multiple times in the story that the story is set in Melbourne, most noticeably when the story reads “Schwartzman’s is a local diner, famous for its wonky Formica tables, its clientele of grumpy old men, and its coffee, which is probably the worst in Melbourne.” (Page 78), but the book does not specify the date of time. The language used in the story states that the story is set in the present time, and the book was published in 2013, implying that the story was set in 2013. If the story was set in a different place, it may impact some of the story’s plot where …show more content…

As I was reading ‘Life in Outer Space’, I was thinking about how much I can relate and understand the story myself. Being a nerd/geek, I got all of the references which Keil inserted into the book. Keil wrote ‘Life in Outer Space’ with all of her interests into it. As stated in the ‘About the Author’ chapter of the book, Keil has been a big book nerd for as long as she can remember. She studied Cinema and Anthropology at university, and in her spare time likes to read comic books, watch YouTube and Star Wars. These are the main ideas behind the story, as Sam (the main protagonist) has an interest in cinema and wants to study it at university. He spends his spare time reading comic books, working on his screenplay, watching YouTube and classic horror movies, and hanging out with his nerdy friends. The majority of the past times that Keil and Sam enjoy to do is what I enjoy too. This helped me relate to the story more and understand the problems presented in the story. The problems that are presented are also some that happen at our own school, and knowing that these are written down on paper in a book made me think that they aren’t as bad and are now easier to deal with. As I was reading the story, I thought that Keil had written many other young adult books before, as the way she kept the reader interested, the language devices used and the humour. When I found that this was her first YA novel, I was incredibly surprised. Studying Cinema in university must teach you about all of these devices to write a successful story. Overall, ‘Life in Outer Space’ makes me think about how relatable the story is to me, that the story is very similar to what happens in Port Augusta, and that I was deeply surprised to hear that this was Keil’s first YA

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