The Challengers

Gr 4–6—When Tyler Sato's Japanese relatives name a star after him for his 11th birthday, they set in motion a chain of events that will alter the course of the entire planet. The star is actually a Mrendarian spaceship on its way to Earth to engage in an intergalactic athletic challenge. The captain of its team, M'Frozza, believes that Tyler is Earth's greatest kid athlete and needs his help to avoid a humiliating forfeit in the Galaxy Games. Tyler is made captain of Earth's team and must select the top young athletes from around the globe to join him. Before they begin to train, he and his team are tricked into a challenge from another planet, and the consequences of a loss would be devastating. The first title in the series introduces a number of characters but is slow to develop the promised action. The first half alternates between Tyler in Nevada, M'Frozza on her spaceship, and Daiki, Tyler's cousin, in Tokyo. These shifts provide different perspectives on the impending encounter and introduce aspects of Japanese pop culture but may lose some readers who are waiting for the competition. Several plotlines run concurrently with most left dangling, presumably to be picked up later in the series. Black-and-white illustrations highlight characters and scenes in a comic-book style that complements the text. There is plenty of humor, and the revelation of the actual sport in the Galaxy Games will be an amusing twist for readers who stick with the story.—Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, IL