Phoenix - Softcover

Gr 6 Up—When Lucky wakes to a scorched bedsheet and the smell of smoke, his mother begins frantically packing his things. She rushes him out of their apartment and to a nearby space station, hoping to catch a flight off Phoenix, the moon they call home. Although desperately asking questions, Lucky can't get his mother to tell him what's wrong, and he is appalled when, after all flights off Phoenix are canceled, she accepts the help of a group of aliens known as Axxa, with whom humans are at war. But learning to trust the four Axxa offering him travel on their ship is only the beginning of Lucky's trek across the war-torn galaxy. He is the key to the conflict between humans and aliens; he just doesn't know it yet. Built around Axxa legends of the Twelve Astraeus, this sci-fi novel follows Lucky from one solar system to the next; Said creates not just a new religion and planet but multiple galaxies with a star at the heart of each, all connected to the Axxa pantheon. As the characters travel, revelations old and new slowly unravel and the secrets of Lucky's own past untangle. However, despite a fleshed-out narrative, captivating black-and-white illustrations, and themes of equality, connection, healing, and creation, Lucky's severe lack of self-confidence and general slow-wittedness may leave readers frustrated and make it difficult to form a bond with him. VERDICT For patient sci-fi fans searching for new characters in a unique world.—Maggie Mason Smith, Clemson University, SC