Out of this world

With a knowing wink to middle-grade fans of Star Trek, Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, and any number of other space operas, Wooding pitches an underachieving preteen into an interstellar caper featuring a decidedly unruly quartet of alien bounty hunters and an AI with . . . quirks. The tale kicks into gear when the ultracool goth classmate whom Jack was eyeing abruptly dissolves into a murderous, glutinous shapechanger. In practically no time, Jack finds himself rescued, told he's inexplicably a dead ringer for a certain highly wanted superspy, and involved in a desperate effort to head off a planet buster aimed toward Earth by alien invaders. Jack's exaggeratedly needy, clumsy, overweight, asthmatic, and (initially) unwelcome human sidekick, Thomas, strikes a sour note, but it's the only one in a supporting cast that, from evil cyborg general to haughty princess and geeky girl techno whiz, otherwise rings loud and true with recognizable sf fantasy types. Along with leaving readers breathless, the hyperspeed hullabaloo brings a newly confident Jack to the brink of new adventures. Stay tuned.

Jack has long wondered why his family moves every year and why his parents treat him more like a military recruit than a kid--now he's about to find out. No question, Jack's parents are weird. His dad's survival training includes surprise attacks launched at dawn for Jack to evade; his mom, an academic coach, is disappointed in him--he can't even recite Shakespeare's complete works. At school, Jack daydreams about cool, pretty Jodie; evades seriously uncool, asthmatic Thomas; and enjoys sketching strange creatures inhabiting far-flung planets in outer space. When Thomas shows up with a celebratory cake on Jack's otherwise uncelebrated 12th birthday, Jack can't prevent Thomas from exploring his house until they stumble upon strange devices in the attic that Thomas--ignoring Jack's frantic warning--can't resist touching. A chain of events ensues that leads to actual outer space, landing the boys in more trouble than they can handle. Never fear: Allies, human and otherwise, are at hand to teach lessons in teamwork. (Human characters skew white.) At times, slapdash execution and jarring stylistic inconsistencies threaten to derail this series opener. The tone veers from subversively sardonic (as in William Sleator's Interstellar Pig, 1984) to drolly whimsical (à la Douglas Adams), with echoes from the Star Wars franchise. If not in top form here, Wooding's never dull; the fast-paced plot features his signature twists and turns. Escapist fun for space-opera fans. (Science fiction. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

With a knowing wink to middle-grade fans of Star Trek, Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, and any number of other space operas, Wooding pitches an underachieving preteen into an interstellar caper featuring a decidedly unruly quartet of alien bounty hunters and an AI with . . . quirks. The tale kicks into gear when the ultracool goth classmate whom Jack was eyeing abruptly dissolves into a murderous, glutinous shapechanger. In practically no time, Jack finds himself rescued, told he's inexplicably a dead ringer for a certain highly wanted superspy, and involved in a desperate effort to head off a planet buster aimed toward Earth by alien invaders. Jack's exaggeratedly needy, clumsy, overweight, asthmatic, and (initially) unwelcome human sidekick, Thomas, strikes a sour note, but it's the only one in a supporting cast that, from evil cyborg general to haughty princess and geeky girl techno whiz, otherwise rings loud and true with recognizable sf fantasy types. Along with leaving readers breathless, the hyperspeed hullabaloo brings a newly confident Jack to the brink of new adventures. Stay tuned. Grades 4-6. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.