- Science Fiction
- Chapter Books
- Ages 9–12
The shape of it
The shape of this universe.
Ross Welford writes high-concept science-fiction adventures for 9–12s, each built around one big 'what if' and a cast of ordinary, funny kids who find themselves badly out of their depth. Since his debut, Time Travelling with a Hamster, he has turned a run of irresistible premises into ticking-clock thrillers: a boy racing back through time to save his father; a girl who accidentally turns invisible; a thousand-year-old boy who longs to grow old; a near-future virus that threatens every dog alive; a sister snatched away by something from space; two brothers who learn to share — and then get lost in — their dreams; a kinder parallel town; a rewilded Earth of 2425. Fast, inventive and quietly hopeful, his novels fold real questions — grief, climate change, the people we can't bear to lose — into genuinely gripping plots, and reward readers who like their adventures with a real scientific spark and an emotional ache beneath the pace.
High-concept sci-fi adventures for 9–12s — one huge idea, ordinary funny kids, ticking-clock pacing and a real emotional heart. A modern master of the middle-grade thriller.
Primary themes
Tone palette
- Exciting
- Suspenseful
- Thought provoking
- Heartwarming
The series
One way in.
Cultural footprint
A shelf of evidence.
What Ross Welford has done
- Bestseller
Cultural ubiquity
3/ 5Well-known to people who know the room.
Sensitivity
Moderate, and collection-wide.
Content notes
- Grief
- Death of character
Across the collection
All 9 books.
About the creator