The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
snazel's review against another edition
4.0
This is really approaching animorphs-level of “shit just got real”. We’ve got galactic war, secrets, imperialism, the looming threat of death, child soldiers, “maybe we’re not the good guys”, and more. Pretty heavy for Middle Grade, but in the type of heavy that Middle Grade does best. Grappling with BIG ideas.
It’s time to save the world.
It’s time to save the world.
yapha's review against another edition
4.0
Jasper, Cole Mira, Lucy, and Marcos are back for their second tour as Earth Force Cadets. Jasper's pod, however, doesn't start off with the rest of the cadets. Instead they are taken to a special base with Waters and Ridders and learn about a new Bounding tool in development that they are needed to test. And when they do meet up with the rest of the cadets it is not at Earth Force Academy as expected. Instead they are being sent to train on Gulaga, the Tunnelers planet. Here all of the pods will be competing in a geocaching competition, testing their bounding skills and the ability to work together. But Jasper and friends realize that not everything is as it seems with the Earth Force, including their rule of Galaga. As they piece together the clues, they realize that their lives may be depend on figuring out who are really their friends and enemies. A solid continuation of the Bounders series. Highly recommended for grades 4 & up. Must read the series in order.
the_fabric_of_words's review against another edition
5.0
Jasper and his fellow Earth Force Bounders travel to the Tunneler planet, Gulaga, to train, but they learn they're not exactly wanted or welcomed.
John Waters, the kids' pod leader, sidetracks Mira and Jasper and gives them secret alien tech: a "brain patch" that enables them to speak to one another. He vaguely refers to them as part of his plans to avert all out war with the Yuli, but the kids aren't sure what he's referring to, and they're even less sure he's got Earth Force's blessing.
The patches take time to kick in, and they don't work the way Jasper imagined. Besides, speech is not how neurodiverse Mira thinks or communicates, anyway, so why would they? Jasper's got some serious Mira-brain-thought learning to do.
They get sidetracked in Gulagaven on the way to the burrow barracks and saved by a mysterious Tunneler, Barrick, who has an old translator and gets them back to where they belong, before he vanishes.
Lucy meets Tunneler teen Neeka, also the pod's Tunneler liason, who's a bit too loose-lipped to keep under wraps there's going to be a big summit in a few weeks. Lucy and Neeka are BFFs, practically soul-mates, and the joined-at-the-hip friendship will continue throughout the books, and at times be pivotal to the plot.
The pod has to share Tunneler quarters with their Earth Force and fellow-Bounder arch nemesis, Regis, and his bully sidekicks, Hakim and Randall. The nasty pranks begin with worms in Jasper's bed and quickly escalate to putting Mira in serious danger on a bridge over a chasm. All the while, Jasper and Mira are learning to use their brain patches.
The Bounders learn they have to navigate the surface of Gulaga looking for what are essentially geo-cashed items. The first pod to bring them all back, wins. Of course, this pits Jasper's pod against Regis'.
The pranks continue to get worse, until Regis steals Mira's bounding gloves before one of the geo-cache expeditions, and that leads to Jasper and Mira getting left out on the freezing Gulagan surface after the doors to the city close.
Barrick arrives to save them, and while they're recuperating in the tunnels below Gulagaven, they learn more about the summit -- they think. Or are there two summits? One in public, the other in private -- with Waters, the Gulagans and the Yuli?
I won't spoil how it ends. Enjoy this super-great space-opera sci-fi read!
Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
John Waters, the kids' pod leader, sidetracks Mira and Jasper and gives them secret alien tech: a "brain patch" that enables them to speak to one another. He vaguely refers to them as part of his plans to avert all out war with the Yuli, but the kids aren't sure what he's referring to, and they're even less sure he's got Earth Force's blessing.
The patches take time to kick in, and they don't work the way Jasper imagined. Besides, speech is not how neurodiverse Mira thinks or communicates, anyway, so why would they? Jasper's got some serious Mira-brain-thought learning to do.
They get sidetracked in Gulagaven on the way to the burrow barracks and saved by a mysterious Tunneler, Barrick, who has an old translator and gets them back to where they belong, before he vanishes.
Lucy meets Tunneler teen Neeka, also the pod's Tunneler liason, who's a bit too loose-lipped to keep under wraps there's going to be a big summit in a few weeks. Lucy and Neeka are BFFs, practically soul-mates, and the joined-at-the-hip friendship will continue throughout the books, and at times be pivotal to the plot.
The pod has to share Tunneler quarters with their Earth Force and fellow-Bounder arch nemesis, Regis, and his bully sidekicks, Hakim and Randall. The nasty pranks begin with worms in Jasper's bed and quickly escalate to putting Mira in serious danger on a bridge over a chasm. All the while, Jasper and Mira are learning to use their brain patches.
The Bounders learn they have to navigate the surface of Gulaga looking for what are essentially geo-cashed items. The first pod to bring them all back, wins. Of course, this pits Jasper's pod against Regis'.
The pranks continue to get worse, until Regis steals Mira's bounding gloves before one of the geo-cache expeditions, and that leads to Jasper and Mira getting left out on the freezing Gulagan surface after the doors to the city close.
Barrick arrives to save them, and while they're recuperating in the tunnels below Gulagaven, they learn more about the summit -- they think. Or are there two summits? One in public, the other in private -- with Waters, the Gulagans and the Yuli?
I won't spoil how it ends. Enjoy this super-great space-opera sci-fi read!
Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?
Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
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