Baxter's first mission is to locate a missing Aquarian ship that has been taken over by a group of aliens whose aim is to subjugate Earth by "entertaining" its citizens to death. His second mission is to rescue a beautiful blue-haired Aquarian princess, known affectionately as "Your Highness." Baxter is assisted in his missions by his able but peculiar shuttle crew-an enormous girl who's a mechanical genius, a small, extremely klutzy math wizard, a genetically modified chimpanzee, and a nit-picking, overly sensitive computer.
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Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 5–8—In this humorous science-fiction adventure, Baxter Moon is in training to become a deep-space shuttle pilot. Many of his fellow scouts have been bionically enhanced to see great distances or have superhuman strength, and others are genetically enhanced animals, but Baxter is an ordinary teen who seems to have the unerring ability (well, most of the time) to do the right thing at the right time. He's there when a robotic alien force overpowers a sensitive diplomatic mission, and he and his teammates must conquer it—without using any weapons. This silly space adventure won't give "Star Wars" or the X-Men much competition, but its simply written, easy-to-follow narrative will appeal to adventure fans, particularly reluctant readers.—Walter Minkel, Austin Public Library, TX
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
An sf tale with a satiric twist, this novel pits a hotshot student pilot and his genetically modified crew against an invasion force of robot TVs. When a diplomatic mission to the blue-skinned Aquarians of Sirius D goes missing, Baxter and another crew are dispatched to investigate. The mission, as it turns out, has been captured by TVTrons, who fiendishly hypnotize victims into watching television until they starve. With plenty of help from supergeek crewmate Elvin; Zenna, Elvin’s simple-minded, muscular twin sister; and GiS, their chimpanzee commander, the mission is saved, the invasion repulsed, and Baxter makes a connection with a hot Aquarian princess. Zakour’s grasp of astronomy and physics seems a little shaky, but the gags fly thick and fast (the author writes them for a living), and his ever-cocky protagonist repeatedly saves the day—usually in a spectacularly destructive way. Fans of Kathy Mackel’s tongue-in-cheek romps will happily tune in to this one. Grades 4-7. --John Peters
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too,
By TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Baxter Moon: Galactic Scout (Paperback)
After winning grand prize in a video game contest, Earthling Baxter Moon found himself entering (with full scholarship) the Galactic Academy of Scouts, training to be a pilot. Now in his second year, he and his crew--a slow but strong-as-an-ox girl, her super-smart but klutzy twin brother, and a genetically improved simian, or GiS for short--have been given the overwhelming task of trying to avert a war between two planets!
Trade negotiations between the people of Earth and the blue-skinned folk of planet Aqua had been going promisingly until both planets lost contact with their ships. Both sides of ambassadors are now missing, and each planet is quick to blame the other. With the situation so tense, Earth Force is reluctant to send their soldiers into questionable territory. The commander of the Galactic Academy has chosen Baxter's team and a rival squad for the mission of retrieving the missing council members. If they succeed, they'll have stopped an intergalactic war. Could it be the TVtrons, TV shaped bots who scour the universe in search of people to watch their programs? The computer systems and robots of the Station have been acting awfully strange lately... I was not surprised to find that the author of this book has written material for Nickelodeon cable network. This book reads like a one-hour TV program for children, with a shallow main character who, of course, is good at everything except for following orders. Baxter Moon may not be the most sympathetic, three-dimensional hero ever, but his exploits do lead to a humorous story, which will draw in the reluctant preteen who doesn't want to invest too much time or effort into reading. Reviewed by: Allison Fraclose
6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
John Zakour has written a fabulous YA science fiction thriller,
This review is from: Baxter Moon: Galactic Scout (Paperback)
Baxter Moon won a scholarship to the Galactic Academy of Scouts and he loves attending school there because he is training to be a pilot. Since mankind went into space, they met only one other humanoid race the blue skin Aquarians. The two races do not get along but each race has something they want so they decide to negotiate in a neutral sector.
Neither race hears from their delegates, so each accuses the other side of atrocities. To avoid an intergalactic war, Baxter and his team are ordered to the place where the delegates vanished to learn what happened. They are chosen because they are not certified to bear deadly arms. When they arrive at the location, they find mindless zombies, which mean they must destroy the cause before they too join the delegates. John Zakour has written a fabulous YA science fiction thriller filled with humor, action, and tense decisions that could impact both races. The support cast who make Baxter's team are fully developed and readers will enjoy their escapades especially GiS the brilliant bioengineered monkey and the extremely strong young lady Zenna. Hopefully this is the first in a new young adult outer space series because readers will adore Baxter. Harriet Klausner
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not just for the young,
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This review is from: Baxter Moon: Galactic Scout (Paperback)
John has written a book that is very easy and fun to read by introducing some entertaining characters and incorporating a plot that could just leave you feeling good after reading this book. I loved reading Heinlein and Asimov when I was young, and this book reminded me of why I loved reading Science Fiction.
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