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A review by the_fabric_of_words
The Tundra Trials by Monica Tesler
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/