STAR STRIKER

Albert Kinney is a seventh grader with a lot on his mind.

He’s concerned about not making the soccer team, trying to understand why his former best friend hates him, and has been abducted by aliens who need him to play striker in an intergalactic tournament. Seventy-five years ago, in the Fŭigor Solar System, the planet Zeeno was occupied by inhabitants from the planet Tev. The Zeenods plan to use their success in the next tournament of Fŭigor johka—the most popular sport in the Milky Way and the precursor to Earth’s soccer—to draw attention to their cause and eventually regain their planet. They need Albert to do it. If being sworn to secrecy and traveling to another solar system for practices using time-folding technology weren’t enough, several attempts on Albert’s life threaten his resolve. Luckily, the dog next door has been observing everything and has his own plan to protect Albert. This ambitious series opener starts out strong: Readers will instantly connect with Albert and his struggles at home, school, and with the sport he loves. Unfortunately, some will lose steam as the complex storyline unfolds; while there is a great deal of science fiction action, Albert spends more time on thought awareness preparation and cultivating his energy control than playing actual johka. An absence of physical descriptions makes the races of human characters difficult to determine.

Middle school soccer meets Space Jam in this uneven adventure.