Flight of the Outcast

April 5, 2010
Strickland (Mars Year One
) attempts to capture the spirit of the classic Heinlein juveniles with this first book in the Academy series. After an attack by space raiders, 13-year-old Asteria Locke is taken in by a colony of repressive religious fanatics. Using her dead cousin's papers, she escapes and enrolls in the Royal Space Fleet Academy, soon learning that commoners like herself and her best friend Dai are often at the mercy of “Aristos,” like the bullying, cheating Mastral Kayser. Asteria's struggles against her newfound nemesis and her experiences over her first year of school follow a largely predictable pattern, with early struggles eventually earning grudging respect. She's helped by the mysterious belt she finds among her father's possessions, which enhances her fighting and flying skills. Hanging over all of this is not only her father's death but the resentment among some Aristos over her father's heroic actions during a space battle. Strickland crams a lot into the book—clumsy exposition bogs down early chapters—and while the pace picks up, the story doesn't offer much to distinguish itself. Ages 9–12.

August 1, 2010

Gr 5-8-This series opener is a little bland. An orphan goes to the Royal Spacefleet Academy to learn how to be a pilot and ultimately get revenge on the raiders who killed her father and cousin. Asteria's story has an added twist in that Aristocrats are a part of this schema, and they exercise great control and power over Commoners, even though Commoners are allowed to attend the academy. Asteria's first year at the institution is filled with standard events. She makes new friends and an Aristo enemy, and, of course, that fact that the 13-year-old turns out to be the best pilot anyone has seen for a long while, with the help of a mysterious belt of alien technology that she found among her murdered father's belongings. The truth about his service in the military is revealed slowly over the course of the novel, and Asteria realizes toward the end that she will be a target of Aristo wrath for her father's deeds. She and her fellow commoner, Dai, also uncover a possible plot by her archenemy to help his uncle take over her former home world and join an alliance with the Tetra raiders who killed her family. The pacing and plot are adequate, if predictable, but the writing is pedestrian. For middle graders who like science fiction, this book might suffice, but Asimov it isn't.-Robin Henry, Wakeland High School, Frisco, TX

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2010
Grades 6-9 After her father and cousin are killed by raiders, 13-year-old Asteria Locke goes to a military academy to become an intergalactic fighter pilot. There, she encounters a world reminiscent of eighteenth-century England, where the students with an aristocratic lineage are automatically assumed to be superior, and they let everyone else know it. Although she is frequently the victim of the class snobbery and bullying, Asteria is helped by the seemingly magical belt her father left to her. As the novel unfolds, Asteria learns more about her fathers life as a military hero, but her investigations lead to more questions than answers. Strickland creates a fast-moving story with plenty of action and a plucky central character, and the series next installment will no doubt give more clues as to the nature of an evil conspiracy that involves aliens and a leading aristocratic family. For another mash-up of kids and space invaders, try Mark Teagues The Doom Machine (2009).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)