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The Comet’s Curse will appeal to YA readers on many levels. The story is about 251 teenagers, none over 16, who are sent into space to preserve the human species. Multiple perspectives are used to tell the tale, with main protagonists Triana, called Tree, the leader of the voyage and Gap, Head of Engineering, as the primary teen voices. Roc, the star ship Galahad’s playful computer, also addresses readers directly as a semi-omniscient narrator. Galahad’s relatively adult-free world is a potent playground for the teens, including soccer and a skateboard-like game called Airboarding.
The teens are torn between the adventure of becoming space colonists and the sorrow and responsibility of leaving behind a world of dying humanity. The text stresses this vast responsibility, especially for Tree, a bit on the heavy-handed side. But the text also shows the teens overcoming stressful situations, especially when a mysterious stowaway shows up in the ship issuing death threats. The teens’ internal struggles and external conflicts are believable and clearly demonstrate the stresses of isolated space life.
Because there are both female and male protagonists, this book would be good for all YA readers. Girls especially might benefit from seeing a strong teen female in a position of power and responsibility. But this story is not just all about space. There is also a realistic portrayal of budding teen romance, and the conflict of a love triangle.
The Comet’s Curse is the first of a series, and the ending leads readers into the second book with a new mystery to solve. I am putting this book into my high school’s library, and I’ll be buying book two as well.
The Comet’s Curse: A Galahad Book by Dom Testa
Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Tor Teen; 1 Reprint edition (March 2, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0765360772
ISBN-13: 978-0765360779
About Rebecca Love
Rebecca lives in Arizona and works as a high school English teacher and librarian. She is madly in love with her husband and four year old son. Rebecca studies creative writing craft at Phoenix College and reads anything she can get her hands on.
Wow great review!
I am reading the second book of the series now, almost half way though. Really loving it. Having never read the first book, you really helped me get some of the back story to it all and fill in some gaps.
Many thanks!
Darcy