The Surface Trials (HM Waugh, A&U Children’s)

Starquest Academy is an elite school for exceptional students from around the galaxy. Notoriously difficult to enter, Starquest requires prospects to undergo a three-day televised challenge on an unknown planet. One hundred teens enter the trials, but only twenty will be successful. For Amethyst, the Academy is a chance to escape her home planet. Rian, disguised as an ordinary competitor, is the heir to the galaxy’s most powerful dynasties and is competing to enter his family’s own academy. Deneb is the underdog from Earth who gets motion-sick in a spaceship. They must work together as a squad to survive a planet that seems intent on eating them and compete for their coveted place. This year, however, the trials will not go as planned. In a middle-grade market that is flooded with fantasy, HM Waugh is establishing herself as a reliably enjoyable science fiction author. Waugh’s background as a STEM teacher underpins the world-building details that make this story wholly believable and immersive. Told from multiple perspectives, the book will keep readers constantly guessing at the motivations of the characters as interplanetary politics, fame, loyalty and a potentially deadly secret all come into play. An accessible introduction to the sci-fi genre, The Surface Trials is a fast-paced narrative that will keep readers entertained from beginning to end. Billed as a ‘non-lethal Hunger Games’, this book is perfect for those tricky upper middle-grade readers who are not yet ready for YA, but are craving an edge-of-your-seat read.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Erin Wamala is a teacher librarian and owner of The Kids' Bookshop. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Category: Friday Unlocked reviews Reviews