Sanity and Tallulah Summary and Review written by the Ent. This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before You Read Sanity and Tallulah
Book: Sanity and Tallulah
Author/Illustrator: Molly Brooks
Genre: Sci-Fi, Comedy, Mystery, Adventure
Length: 240 pages
Age suggested: 8 and up
Release Date: October 16th, 2018
Warnings: Lots of scientific experimentation (some of which looks quote gross), Animal death (although not pets), Mild peril and disobeying of parents.
Quick Sanity and Tallulah Summary
Sanity and Tallulah are two friends growing up on a space station. When Sanity’s unapproved science experiment goes missing, the whole space station starts to suffer. It’s up to the girls and the people in charge to find Sanity’s experiment before it affects the entire space station.
Sanity and Tallulah Review
Why Read Sanity and Tallulah
Sanity and Tallulah is a very fun space adventure with a straight-forward story that still allows for some unexpected moments. Each Sanity and Tallulah have very likeable and personable personalities. Even during conflicts, you can understand and relate to both sides. The adult characters, although frustrating at times, also feel realistic in such a unique setting. All the characters, no matter their role, add to the overall atmosphere while also bringing a real world element to each story.
The subplot of Princess Sparkle, Destroyer of Worlds, the creature Sanity created without authorization, plays out very well. It’s fun because the reveals throughout the story are shown to the characters at the same time as the reader, leaving the reader and characters sharing similar emotions. This is also a fun series that can be read to kids 6 and up and should be able to be read by kids 8 and up (depending on their reading level).
Is Sanity and Tallulah Appropriate?
Overall, the story of Sanity and Tallulah tells a fun story about friendship and responsibility. With that said, there are definitely a few things to know, especially if you are dealing with younger readers. The animal subplot is perhaps most important. With Sanity’s creature on the loose, there is a strong (but false) belief from many of the adults that the creature is a large, ferocious animal (with some images of their imaginings being shown). Alongside this, there are also smaller animals that are found dead. Although fairly subtle, some readers may find this portion disturbing.
The main plot revolves around Sanity and Tallulah lying about a science experiment. This action of lying lasts throughout the book as they try to help and find the creature. By the end of the story, there are consequences for these actions. This book is written for older elementary and up and is generally appropriate for most kids in that range.
Continue reading for our Sanity and Tallulah Summary.
Full Sanity and Tallulah Summary
Contains Spoilers
As mentioned previously, Sanity and Tallulah are two best friends living on a space station. When Tallulah’s mom finds out about the unauthorized creation of a three-headed kitten named Princess Sparkle, Destroyer of Worlds, she reprimands them and takes the creature in for safe keeping. Tallulah’s dad and sibling are about to go to a trip for cargo pickup. Tallulah wants to go, but due to recent events, is banned from going.
That night, the kitten escapes and Sanity and Tallulah sneak out to attempt to find it before an alert is raised. After searching for most of the night, they sleep for a bit before starting the next day. That day animals and pets start showing up murdered and the it is found out that the three headed kitten has been lost. This leads to an all-alert search for Princess Sparkles, Destroyer of Worlds. This leads to lots of misinformation and fear across the board as well as lots of tension between Sanity, Tallulah, and their respective parents.
As the search continues, coolant lines being chewed through leads to an imminent issue with the space station, cranking up the urgency to find the missing creature. After much conflict, Tallulah’s dad and brother help discover that an infestation of duct weasels was brought onto the space station via cargo ship. Alongside this discovery, Sanity and Tallulah find their kitten (who has gotten MUCH larger). They also find out that the kitten has been attacking the weasels, but not the cause of the major issues affecting the ship.
When things calm down, the ship is being repaired and the driver of the cargo ship who accidentally brought over the duct weasel infestation agrees to take and care for Princess Sparkles, Destroyer of Worlds. Ultimately, everything had a happy ending, but Sanity and Tallulah do still have to pay a few minor consequences for their mistakes.
Favorite Sanity and Tallulah Quotes
Don’t break any ethical research tenets or laws of nature until I get back!
Do you want to grow a prehensile tail, and end up like Dr. Gorges?
Mom thinks I’ll accidentally stow away on a smuggler ship and embark on a life of crime or something.
Bringing creatures to life all by yourself is mad-science territory
Sanity and Tallulah Quotes
Sanity and Tallulah Discussion Questions
Themes to Discuss: Responsibility, Friendship, Misinformation
- Did you relate more to Sanity or Tallulah? Why?
- Sanity and Tallulah show they are very loyal to each other. In what ways did you see this loyalty? In other ways, how was this loyalty tested?
- Sanity and Tallulah hide their science experiment from adults and their further actions as well. How would the story been different if they had been honest from the beginning?
- Without knowing all the information, many adults made assumptions about Sanity’s creature. Why do you think they made such assumptions? How do you see this playing out in society today?
Thanks for reading our Sanity and Tallulah Summary and Review. Before you go, check out some our favorite graphic novels below.
–Anti/Hero
–American Born Chinese
–Enola Holmes
–Lightfall
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