From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5-Japanese-American grade-schooler Akiko is scooped up by her former spacefaring buddies: the seedy space tramp Spuckler, brainy but befuddled Mr. Beeba, robot Gax, and floating-dot creature Poog. These cosmos-cruising misfits have entered a cross-galaxy race and need to program the new navigational computer that Spuckler has added to soup up his rickety spacecraft. Unfortunately, the user's manual is written in Jabblenese, a language they mistakenly believe Akiko can read. After all, she has led them through trouble before. Since there is no time to return her to Earth before the race starts, she goes along for the ride. But, when Spuckler's old enemy Bluggamin Streed enters the field, the race threatens to turn deadly and Akiko begins to wonder if she can even get her shipmates to the finish line alive. Based on the highly successful graphic-novel series (Sirius Entertainment), the story clearly shows its comic-book roots: fast-paced, episodic plot action; anime-inspired cartoon illustrations; and descriptive sound bites ("FWUUUUUUUUM!"). Familiarity with the earlier books is helpful but not essential.
Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, ILCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Gr. 2-5. Ten-year-old Japanese American Akiko, last seen in
Akiko in the Castle of Alia Raptor (2001), returns in another novel for young sf readers. Fresh from building snowmen with her somewhat annoying human friend, Akiko is taken off by her regularly featured alien pals to participate in an outer-space speed race. It seems there's some confusion about her ethnic heritage. There's also a mysterious manual written in Jabblenese. This particular episode includes sabotage, and the worst physical disaster to befall the crew is getting slimed by Black Hole mucus. Crilley, who also writes a comic book series featuring this character, offers generous doses of wit as well as moralizing here, and, as always, Akiko demonstrates her physical and character strengths, making this an adventure story that packs gender equity as well as an antixenophobic theme. Soft-pencil illustrations appear in each chapter and include some good depictions of old space-opera machinery.
Francisca GoldsmithCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
