ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Stowaway

384 pp. | HarperCollins/Walden | August, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-0-06-298594-1 $16.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-0-06-298596-5
(2) 4-6 Icarus Chronicles series. In this sci-fi series opener, shortly after humans discover the substance ventasium on Earth, the extraterrestrial Aykari arrive, offering friendship and technology in exchange for the element that powers their faster-than-light-speed ships. Soon after that, unfortunately, the aliens' foes, the Djarik, bomb every major city on Earth, rousing humans to resist, and cementing the Earth-Aykari military alliance. Thirteen-year-old Leo Fender and his remaining family are passengers on the spaceship Beagle when a Djarik attack disables the ship and the aliens abduct Leo's astrophysicist dad. With their communications system down, the ship's crew and passengers are sitting ducks for the pirates that show up to scavenge the vessel; in a desperate bid for survival, Leo's older brother stows him away on the pirate ship. Set largely in space, the story is suffused with nostalgia for Earth's natural beauty (a beauty severely compromised by the environmentally costly Aykari ventasium mining), and this longing sets up an effective reveal at the climax--a 180-degree plot twist that would have caught readers flatfooted if not for the skillful way ­Anderson manages expectations building to that moment. One final fillip sets up an even more wrenchng conflict, leaving readers eager for a sequel.
Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

RELATED 

INTERMEDIATE FICTION

The Republic of Birds
by Miller, Jessica
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Atlantis
by Mone, Gregory
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

It Doesn't Take a Genius
by Rhuday-Perkovich, Olugbemisola
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls
by Rivera, Kaela
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Soul Lanterns
by Kuzki, Shaw
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?