  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 10/15/2016 The author-illustrator team behind Varjak Paw (2003) reunites for this mystical sf adventure about a boy with the power to save his galaxy from the Wolf That Eats the Stars, an encroaching void caused by the war between humans and alien Axxa. In his dreams, Lucky travels among the stars and listens to their songs, but when he wakes, everything around him is covered in ashes. Before his mother is able to explain what’s happening, she is killed, and Lucky winds up fleeing the planet on an alien starship. Lucky and the Axxa crew are reluctant to travel together, but as they search for Lucky’s lost father, who may hold the key to his powers, they learn their differences are less striking than their similarities. The narrative and evocative artwork come together to form an inspirational tale of embracing empathy and fighting despair, couched in a familiar “chosen-one” arc, that works both as an allegory and a straightforward adventure. McKean’s stylized illustrations add to the mythic tone of Lucky’s transformative experience. - Copyright 2016 Booklist. School Library Journal - 10/01/2016 Gr 6 Up—When Lucky wakes to a scorched bedsheet and the smell of smoke, his mother begins frantically packing his things. She rushes him out of their apartment and to a nearby space station, hoping to catch a flight off Phoenix, the moon they call home. Although desperately asking questions, Lucky can't get his mother to tell him what's wrong, and he is appalled when, after all flights off Phoenix are canceled, she accepts the help of a group of aliens known as Axxa, with whom humans are at war. But learning to trust the four Axxa offering him travel on their ship is only the beginning of Lucky's trek across the war-torn galaxy. He is the key to the conflict between humans and aliens; he just doesn't know it yet. Built around Axxa legends of the Twelve Astraeus, this sci-fi novel follows Lucky from one solar system to the next; Said creates not just a new religion and planet but multiple galaxies with a star at the heart of each, all connected to the Axxa pantheon. As the characters travel, revelations old and new slowly unravel and the secrets of Lucky's own past untangle. However, despite a fleshed-out narrative, captivating black-and-white illustrations, and themes of equality, connection, healing, and creation, Lucky's severe lack of self-confidence and general slow-wittedness may leave readers frustrated and make it difficult to form a bond with him. VERDICT For patient sci-fi fans searching for new characters in a unique world.—Maggie Mason Smith, Clemson University, SC - Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
 |