Blastaway!
This week I finally got around to reading another ARC from Netgalley. This one was one that I specifically sought out when I found out that Melissa Landers, one of my favorite authors, had written another book. While her other novels that I have reviewed, Starflight and Starfall, are more YA books and slightly more mature, this book I feel is middle-grade all the way. I think that 10-14 year olds would love this book!
Oh! And I love the cover art!
Anyway, Blastaway is set to come out July 9th of this year but you can pre-order it here.
This book has two main characters.
Kyler Centaurus is a nerdy kid who stands out from all of his brothers who seem to love all boy things like football and sports. Kyler loves celestology--the study of the stars. All he wants is a chance to go to the Fasti Sun Festival where you can see new stars being born. Luckily, he "accidentally" steals his family's space cruiser and heads off to the festival.
Unfortunately, he is attacked by two space pirates who try to steal his ship. Luckily, he meets Figerella Jammeslot--Fig for short. She is a Wanderer, a group of humans who left Earth many years ago and evolved to withstand the radiation of space. Fig makes a living by blowing up asteroids and since she needs a ride to Earth, she gives Kyler a hand with the pirates.
Kyler later learns the truth about why Fig is going to Earth and they must eventually work together to stop the threat to humanity.
Like I said, I think that this book is a great middle-grade novel rather than YA. Overall, I really liked it. I felt like the adventure and science fiction elements of this story made it fun and worth a read.
The narration of the book goes back and forth between Kyler and Fig and it is labeled at the beginning of the chapter. But I did realize that I was having problems keeping it straight and I would have to go back a few pages to see who was narrating the chapter. I think that my main problem was that the narrative voices of Fig and Kyler sounded pretty similar. There wasn't a huge difference between their voices and so it wasn't always super clear because of their language or the way that they talked. I understand how hard this can be to achieve since there is obviously only one author writing the book but it was something that I felt could've been improved.
Anyone who loves science fiction, adventure, or intelligent and capable kids saving the world, will love this book. I recommend it!
Oh! And I love the cover art!
Anyway, Blastaway is set to come out July 9th of this year but you can pre-order it here.
This book has two main characters.
Kyler Centaurus is a nerdy kid who stands out from all of his brothers who seem to love all boy things like football and sports. Kyler loves celestology--the study of the stars. All he wants is a chance to go to the Fasti Sun Festival where you can see new stars being born. Luckily, he "accidentally" steals his family's space cruiser and heads off to the festival.
Unfortunately, he is attacked by two space pirates who try to steal his ship. Luckily, he meets Figerella Jammeslot--Fig for short. She is a Wanderer, a group of humans who left Earth many years ago and evolved to withstand the radiation of space. Fig makes a living by blowing up asteroids and since she needs a ride to Earth, she gives Kyler a hand with the pirates.
Kyler later learns the truth about why Fig is going to Earth and they must eventually work together to stop the threat to humanity.
Like I said, I think that this book is a great middle-grade novel rather than YA. Overall, I really liked it. I felt like the adventure and science fiction elements of this story made it fun and worth a read.
The narration of the book goes back and forth between Kyler and Fig and it is labeled at the beginning of the chapter. But I did realize that I was having problems keeping it straight and I would have to go back a few pages to see who was narrating the chapter. I think that my main problem was that the narrative voices of Fig and Kyler sounded pretty similar. There wasn't a huge difference between their voices and so it wasn't always super clear because of their language or the way that they talked. I understand how hard this can be to achieve since there is obviously only one author writing the book but it was something that I felt could've been improved.
Anyone who loves science fiction, adventure, or intelligent and capable kids saving the world, will love this book. I recommend it!
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