Only Child

Cody, an eleven-year-old space traveler, tries to save a race of spiderlike aliens slated for extinction by human colonization.

Grade 4-7-- Born and raised on a spaceship, Cody's first visit to a planet is a frightening but enlightening adventure. His status as only child on a ship of adults has made him sheltered; the greater freedom allowed during shore leave gets Cody into trouble when he is kidnapped by ``skippers,'' large insect-like creatures. Shocked to find intelligent native life on a supposedly uninhabited planet, Cody receives a quick introduction to human cruelty. The original settlers set out to eliminate the friendly skippers, in direct violation of Federation laws. Hoover's premise, the evils of colonization, is a familiar theme, but her version is fresh and powerful. Cody is a likable, recognizable young teenager, no hero on a grand scale, but a normal person trying to do the right thing. The setting is described in enough detail to give the unfamiliar world texture without overwhelming middle graders; an eerie cover illustration will attract their attention. The hopeful but open ending is a fitting conclusion to an accessible story. --Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, County of Henrico Public Library, Richmond, VA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Twelve-year-old Cody's first trip outside his spaceship home takes him to the developing world of Patma, where he is kidnapped by natives who want to hold him hostage in order to force humans to leave their planet. As the drama unfolds, Cody discovers that the humans of Patma have covered up the existence of the natives because it is illegal to settle worlds where indigenous intelligent life already exists. To make matters worse, the human settlers are systematically killing the natives. Hoover ( The Dawn Palace; ; Away Is a Strange Place to Be ) has crafted a riveting, fast-paced adventure story laced with probing psychological insights into Cody's life on board ship and his coming of age in the aftermath of his kidnapping. This complex and engrossing novel is especially moving in the scenes evoking the aliens' culture and Cody's struggle to channel his outrage over its destruction. Hoover's forceful, visual writing will hold the reader's attention from beginning to end. Ages 9-12.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Cody, born on the research ship Annie Cannon, is 12 before he leaves the ship. He's unprepared for the sky and sea on planet Patma, or for the ``skippers,'' large, insect-like creatures that seem to be intelligent--an apparent impossibility, since humans have allowed them on the planet. Captured by the skippers, Cody learns that their culture is actually well known to humans but is being suppressed; escaping, he leaves Patma determined to have the skippers recognized by the government on Earth. In the year of Columbus, a spacefaring story about a native culture destroyed by explorers should have some appeal; unfortunately, this one is simplistic and poorly motivated. Cody's mother describes him as an ``experiment,'' but what kind is never clear. He causes a planet-wide search by disappearing for one night, then is calmly allowed to wander off again. And what does his being the only child on the planet have to do with his adventures and their resolution? Not one of Hoover's better efforts. (Fiction. 9+) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.