'Lily and Kosmo in Outer Outer Space' is a mostly enjoyable middle grade science fiction novel. I wish I had enjoyed it more than I had. It has a lot of elements to like such as the sci-fi obsessed female lead and fantastic illustrations. 

I found the choice of time the book is set in to be interesting. Set in 1949, typical things that kids these days would recognize such as televisions and cell phones aren't even mentioned. The idea of listening to a program via the radio instead of seeing it? Probably a bit shocking. It adds an additional level of the surreal to the book. 

Going back to the illustrations: They really are great. I'm not sure if they'll be colored in the final book, but I hope not. The style suits the story to a T. My favorite one included some vaguely Dalek-shaped bad-guys coming out of a spaceship. 

For some reason 'Lily and Kosmo in Outer Outer Space' just did not click with me. I found it odd, since it's the type of kids book I normally love. I think my problem was that it just seemed a little too silly at times. That and as much as I wanted to love the main character, I couldn't really get my inner child in touch with her. At all. However, for readers on the youngest end of the middle grade age-range 'Lily and Kosmo in Outer Outer Space' is probably a good choice.