Randoms by David Liss

Your father is dead, your mother is dying from a debilitating disease and you have a chance to go to space, meet with aliens and cure your mother.  What would you do?

Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published August 25th and you can grab a copy then.

Get ready for a lot of action with strange beings and even a chance to save the world!  This is what I would call a space odyssey and it's full of action, danger, and politics.  This was a very, very good read and I can't wait to read the next one in this series.  After all, the author can't stop now...

Zeke ends up on the space ship with lots of odd creatures.  He has to learn not to assume types by their actions or looks.  They may look like a monster but they can be a kind person anyway.  He's expecting a quiet ride to the other planet to meet more other worldly types and be tested to see if earth people would be a good addition to the consortium of planets.  A worthy goal, but one that will be hard to win.

He learns he's a random; all the others were chosen for skills.  He does know a lot about Star Trek and Star Wars and has read lots of sci-fi, so he thinks he can fit in.  What he doesn't expect is for the other three team members to blow him off because he might affect their score.  He also doesn't expect to be asked to man the weapons on the bridge because their ship is under attack.  He reverts to video game status and takes out the attacking ship.  That's where things start to go sideways.  The rules say that you only disable the ship and bring it in, not kill the beings on board.  Nobody told him the rules and it was an emergency.  They understand that but they still consider it a war crime.

I liked the other randoms Zeke hooks up with.  There's Steve, a lizard, who can move fast, is strong, and loves fast transportation.  A beautiful girl with cat features is another friend of his and he'd like to make her more than that.  But circumstances work against them.

Lots of action keeps your attention focused on the story.  The ending was unsatisfying but it's also not really the end.  I know there will be another book.  And I'll be first in line to get a copy.  Mr. Liss, I want some happy resolutions in the next book!