Gr 5 Up--Anderson's latest novel gives middle grade readers a futuristic coming-of-age space odyssey. After tragedy strikes, Leo and his family venture into the somewhat unknown, moving into a spacecraft run by the Coalition. Leo's father, Dr. Fender, is an important scientist trying to make discoveries and hopefully bring peace to the universe. But when Dr. Fender is taken by the enemy, Leo finds himself locked on board with a scrappy band of pirates. On a mission to reunite with his family, Leo discovers that the universe isn't full of simply good and bad people, but beings who, like him, are just trying to survive. Throughout the novel, Leo's experiences with grief, fear, and moments of understanding make him relatable even while in space. This novel not only provides an otherworldly adventure, but a sincere tale about dealing with loss, finding bravery, and navigating the complexity of war. While this would make for a great read-aloud, there are darker moments and some action-based violence that will not be for every reader. VERDICT A page-turning space adventure that deals with complex issues. Middle graders who like "Star Wars," Yoon Ha Lee's Dragon Pearl, and Stuart Gibbs's "Moon Base Alpha" series may also enjoy. --Hilary Tufo, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., Reynoldsburg, OH

Space drama keeps finding 10-year-old Leo even though all he feels able to do is grieve. At first, Leo was excited when aliens called Aykari landed on Earth in 2044. It was all fun and games and faster-than-light travel until more aliens, called the Djarik, attacked, killing Leo's mother. The Aykari recruited his astrophysicist father to live on a research vessel with Leo and his older brother, Gareth. Well-paced flashbacks fill in these blanks of Leo's past while, in the present, he and Gareth live through another Djarik assault. The lizardlike Djarik take Leo's father prisoner and strip the ship, leaving it vulnerable to passing pirates. Pirates, though, have fuel and communications, so Gareth tricks Leo into stowing away alone with some who show up so that he can get help. Terrified, asthmatic Leo grabs for his inhaler, and before long he's meeting new aliens, humans, and robots; getting shot at; and finding out that maybe his father didn't know absolutely everything about the universe. Plentiful references to pop-culture touchstones like Ziggy Stardust and Pokémon give this space opera a lived-in feel. Leo's narration aches with pathos but also provides moments of humor and finally ends on a cliffhanger. The alien main character simultaneously resembles humans and is radically nonhuman in ways that are emotionally satisfying. Most of the human cast defaults to White; two characters are coded Black and Japanese, respectively. A heartfelt adventure. (Science fiction. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In this sci-fi series opener, shortly after humans discover the substance ventasium on Earth, the extraterrestrial Aykari arrive, offering friendship and technology in exchange for the element that powers their faster-than-light-speed ships. Soon after that, unfortunately, the aliens' foes, the Djarik, bomb every major city on Earth, rousing humans to resist, and cementing the Earth-Aykari military alliance. Thirteen-year-old Leo Fender and his remaining family are passengers on the spaceship Beagle when a Djarik attack disables the ship and the aliens abduct Leo's astrophysicist dad. With their communications system down, the ship's crew and passengers are sitting ducks for the pirates that show up to scavenge the vessel; in a desperate bid for survival, Leo's older brother stows him away on the pirate ship. Set largely in space, the story is suffused with nostalgia for Earth's natural beauty (a beauty severely compromised by the environmentally costly Aykari ventasium mining), and this longing sets up an effective reveal at the climax -- a 180-degree plot twist that would have caught readers flatfooted if not for the skillful way Anderson manages expectations building to that moment. One final fillip sets up an even more wrenching conflict, leaving readers eager for a sequel. Anita L. Burkam November/December 2021 p.95(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In this episodic spacefaring adventure, the first in a duology, Anderson (One Last Shot) spins a fast-paced tale of piracy among the stars. Life aboard scientific research vessel the Beagle is just fine for asthmatic 12-year-old Leo Fender, who lives there with his older brother and father, all cued as white, after first contact with the alien Aykari in 2044 introduced humans to the galactic community. When the marauding, lizardlike Djarik attack, kidnapping Leo's scientist father and stealing the coveted ventasium that fuels the ship, it's clear that the now-helpless Beagle may not be found in time to save its inhabitants. So when it's boarded by pirates, led by the flamboyant Bastian Black, Leo stows away on the pirate ship in a desperate attempt to get help. He's soon discovered, and though the interspecies crew of the Icarus initially distrusts Leo, he slowly earns a place among the crew as they move from one escapade to the next, caught up in a messy galactic conflict. Featuring a winning cast of misfits who stumble into unexpected kinship, Anderson employs warm humor and pop culture references to ground the narrative against cosmic-level stakes and underlying commentary about exploitation and the cost of war. Ages 8--12. Agent: Josh Adams, Adams Literary. (Aug.)

It wasn't long after the discovery of ventasium on Earth that humans learned they were not alone. Soon the Aykari arrived, warning them that they were now the richest planet but that this would bring others to their world in search of the material. Now, Leo Fender and his brother, Gareth, are on board the spaceship Beagle with their scientist father, Dr. Calvin Fender. When the Beagle is attacked by Djarik--reptilian beings and enemies of the Aykari--Dr. Fender is taken, leaving Leo and Gareth behind with the ship's crew. When Gareth tricks Leo into boarding a pirate spaceship in order to save him, Leo finds himself completely alone. As Leo learns more about the pirates and beings on board (fellow humans Bastian and Kat, the Queleti Boo, and snarky robot Skits) and about the vast universe they are now traveling together, he begins to realize that the Coalition of Planets, headed by the Aykari, may not be all it seems. Flashbacks fill readers in on how Leo and his family came to join the Beagle spaceship, as well as the course of events that brought the Aykari to Earth and that took away Leo's mother. The Mandalorian meets Guardians of the Galaxy in this fast-paced space adventure that will have readers turning the pages as they are pulled into a unique yet strangely familiar world that reflects our own. This series opener is an ideal pick for middle-grade sci-fi fans.