Galactic Battles.

Harrison, Zac.  Galactic Battles.  (Hyperspace High)  Capstone/Stone Arch     2014  288p  $25.99  ISBN 978-1-4342-6569-2  ms/jr  Science fiction  VG-BN

John Riley was sent to a boarding school on Earth but he managed to get into Hyperspace High, which is light years away from Earth.  Now he is faced with his first challenge, and he has been made leader of his alien group.     In Hyperspace High the students come from across the galaxy.  John is the only human, and the Galactic counsel is still considering whether he was a good choice.  However, John is blossoming and making good friends.  The school is preparing for the annual Space Spectacular show, and this just means that parents are invited to the school to see how well their children are doing -- except that John’s family will not be present because they are not allowed entry, at least not yet.  The school is elegant and has many modern facilities, and the students are no different from those on Earth; they even have bullies.  The only difference is that they are aliens.  For the show the students are placed onto teams, and John is picked for the Galactic battle team.  On his team there are only five, and the team has chosen him to lead.

This is a big responsibility that John must face as they begin to train.  At first it looks dismal, but gradually John begins learning how to lead his team.  Then the big day comes and they are ready, but they encounter big problems, and those problems escalate as the team takes the stage.  When everything goes wrong, it looks like John truly will have to lead his team to success because failure may mean their death.      

Space ships-Fiction                                   --Magna Diaz