Our Middle Grade book spotlight this week is focused on books that take place in outer space!! I do not know about you, but there have been times I have wondered what it would be like to live somewhere other than Earth; what would I wear, eat, how do you sleep and travel and there are so many more questions. One of the amazing things about books is we can choose one that actually places us in that scenario without having to leave the comfort of our pajamas and living room! All of these fiction books deal with living in outer space whether it is the journey in getting there to living on a totally different planet; there are themes of friendship, adventure, science, and even humor. Some take place on planets we have heard of while others are completely made up (or are they?). There is a combination of stand alone titles as well as some first in a series! These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #youthspacefiction as well as on Libby and Hoopla. Check back next week for a new Middle Grade book spotlight and if you have any book suggestions, please let us know!!
Last Day On Mars by Kevin Emerson--It is 2213, and Earth has been incinerated by the sun, which started going supernova billions of years before it should have. The last humans live on Mars, but even that is temporary as the sun is still expanding. Everyone is preparing for a 150-year journey to Aaru-5, a new star system with habitable worlds. Every spaceship has left but one, the Scorpius, which is waiting for Phoebe, her friend Liam, and their parents who are conducting last-minute terraforming tests needed for the move. Disaster strikes when an explosion injuries the adults and the Scorpius leaves without them. Now Liam and Phoebe have to use newly discovered alien technology—that changes everything they know about the nature of time and space—to catch up to the ship and relay important information that humanity needs to survive.
The Lost Planet by Rachel Searles--After awakening on the planet Trucon with a bad case of amnesia, Chase Garrety begins exploring his new environment in an effort to get his bearings and piece together his memory. He is soon taken under the wing of orphaned young gamer Parker, and the two become fast friends. Just when Chase is beginning to finally feel at home in his new life, he and Parker uncover a complex and dangerous conspiracy. Uncertain who to trust, the two friends set out on a cross-planetary adventure in a search for answers, and discover secrets both thrilling and shocking.
Cleopatra in Space by Mike Maihack--Young Cleopatra finds a tablet that transports her into the far future where she learns she is destined to save the galaxy from evil Xaius Octavian. She enters Yasiro Academy where she trains to be a future leader.
Space Case by Stuart Gibbs--Twelve-year-old Dashiell “Dash” Gibson, like the other kids living on Moon Base Alpha, is famous for being one of the first people to live on the Moon—and he is bored. The base is cramped and all he has to do all day is homework and virtual reality games. Then one day something interesting happens: base scientist Dr. Holtz is found dead on the lunar surface. Dash suspects foul play, but no one believes him. He will have to investigate the death himself.
The Planet Thieves by Dan Krokos--On a routine voyage aboard an Academy spaceship, thirteen-year-old Mason Stark and his fellow cadets are attacked by the Tremist, an alien race who have been at war with humanity for the last sixty years.
Project Alpha by D.J. MacHale--As the Earth is nearing the end of its available power sources, a global competition, whose contestants can only be teenagers, is announced--the four winners will join a secret mission, becoming Voyagers, to travel far into space to find a new source of power, and face dangers on all sides.