Space Case

The first-person perspective employed in Space Case is a central structural component of the novel’s plot and thematic elements. Readers hear about each developing conflict through Dashiell Gibson’s 12-year-old eyes, rather than through a third-party narrator. The point of view is established immediately, as Stuart Gibbs jumps into Dash’s descriptions of life in space. On the first page of Chapter 1, readers follow along as Dash talks about how much “life in outer space sucks,” entreating the reader to “trust” him (5). Through this opening and Dash’s continued narration, Gibbs establishes a very specific point of view in which readers watch events unfold from a young adolescent’s perspective. As the novel’s conflicts grow more intense, the use of the first-person complicates the ways that readers are able to understand dynamics between characters, especially adult ones.

The tension between the younger and older residents of Moon Base Alpha emerges early on in the novel. In particular, Dash’s narration helps establish how difficult he finds it to navigate the ways that adults hide certain information or emotions from him. Dash, at 12 years old, grasps that his parents and the other adults are trying to protect him, but he is fully able to put together logical conclusions from the details that he picks up on. Dash takes care to explain how his sister is much younger than him, showing her innocence and lack of focus as traits that separate her from him. While Dash’s parents view him as more mature than his little sister, Violet, and therefore share some information with him that they do not share with her, even his parents frame that information carefully and do not freely discuss all their feelings with him. Other adults, like Nina Stack, very clearly withhold information and try to control Dash’s movements on the base. In many ways, even in these early chapters, the theme of Subverting Authority When Necessary is already present. Dash’s age and conflicts with adults are immediately a barrier to his investigation and will continue to be an issue for him over the course of the plot. Nonetheless, Gibbs portrays Dash as able to subvert the adult systems that surround him: It is precisely because Dash is a clever young adult that he is able to gain access to information or events that authority figures don’t want him learning about.

Each chapter in Space Case is preceded by a short excerpt from the fictional resident’s guide published by NASA in 2040. These excerpts are primarily thematically linked to the events of the chapter that follows them and usually serve as a dual-layered source of information. On the surface, the excerpts provide helpful context for the events and setting in which the novel is taking place. More importantly, underneath, the excerpts provide an important juxtaposition between NASA’s painting of what life will be like on the moon and Dash’s narration about what the base is really like. In many of the excerpts, the language reads as almost facetious, as it describes events and scenarios that are directly in contradiction to what is happening on the base. These excerpts complement the theme of Influences That Lead to Corruption, reminding the reader at the top of each chapter that even—or perhaps especially—adults can be tempted to do harm to others in order to benefit themselves. Gibbs uses these excerpts to establish setting as well as to continue to prompt the reader, alongside Dash, to stay suspicious of the events on Moon Base Alpha.

As implied by its title, Space Case is a detective story at its core, featuring Dash as the lead investigator. Though Space Case is also written for a younger audience, Gibbs employs several key strategies across the novel to build suspense and fit in with the larger crime story genre. One of the earliest ways that Gibbs incorporates suspense is through the inclusion of a detailed map of Moon Base Alpha and a complete list of residents, which both appear prior to any chapters in the novel. The map and list support comprehension of the novel as well as helping to establish that Space Case will follow a cast of characters in a confined setting where something bad will take place. Any one of the listed characters may be suspicious, and the isolation and small size of the base suggest limited resources. These introductory materials hint at the upcoming theme of Finding Creative Solutions to Problems, which is not only what has led to creation of the moon base in the first place but also what will be key to Dash’s success. Throughout the novel, Dash’s knowledge of the base and of the different possible suspects will help him uncover the truth of what happened to Dr. Holtz.