Galax-Arena

Gillian Rubinstein

ISBN 10: 0613016750 ISBN 13: 9780613016759

Publisher: Bt Bound, 1997

Synopsis

Joella, her brother Peter and sister Liane, are kidnapped and transported to become pets and entertainers for an alien species, Vexa, whose lives depend on these children and their gravity-defying feats in the specially-created Galax-Arena, a hothouse of rivalry and death.

About this title

From Booklist:

Gr. 7^-10. Rubinstein's riveting psychological thriller was named an honor book by the Australian Children's Book Council, and it's certain to be popular on this side of the Pacific, too. When 13-year-old Joey, her older brother, Peter, and younger sister, Liane, are kidnapped, they believe they have been abducted by aliens and removed to the planet Vexak. Along with 20 other children from Earth, they become Peb and are trained as acrobats to perform in the Galax-Arena for the Vexa, who thrive on vicarious danger. After failing as an acrobat, unathletic Joey becomes an isolated Vexan kid-pet, a situation that allows her to learn the truth about her captivity and acquire the courage and means to escape. Rubinstein's Galax-Arena is chillingly real--from the Peb pidgin language to the children's gradual loss of innocence. Readers will be reminded of Sleator's House of Stairs as Joey watches Liane and Peter teeter on the brink of sanity. The story will also have teens wondering how they themselves would respond when reality proves more horrific for Joey and her fellows than the nightmarish Galax-Arena. A first-rate thriller that will leave readers hoping for a sequel and send them back to the shelves for the author's previous books. Chris Sherman

About this edition

• Publisher: Bt Bound
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0613016750
• ISBN 13: 9780613016759
• Binding: Library Binding