LAT Fic 01 - The Basics(Note: I wrote this last, but it takes place before my other LAT fics.)Dash plunked his meal tray onto the metal table with a loud clatter. He called loudly, trying to be heard over the general hubbub of the base cafeteria. The other officers already at the table didn't seem to hear him; talking amongst themselves as they were. Dash sighed and took his seat.He picked�up a sandwich from his tray and called a greeting to the sunglassed agent sitting across from him. Charge returned the salutation.They ate in silence for a few minutes. The other officers were still talking, but Dash couldn't seem to make out what they were saying over the din of the lunch rush. He finished off one of his sandwiches, then spoke to the untalkative officer across from him."I hear they're playing an action flick in the auditorium tonight." I've heard that as well." Think you'll be catching it?"" Random LAT Fic: As The Suns SetAlternate title - I Regret and Apologize in Advance For The Existence of This.Dash looked up weakly.
The chains suspending him from the wall rattled as he tried to face Ogel. He forced himself not to look at the lifeless figures of Flex and Radia sprawled beneath him. No, he was past hoping at this point.Cackling laughter once again filled the chamber as Ogel rubbed his hands gleefully."At last, it comes down to this moment; the final stages of my plan! The moment the sun finishes setting, my grand evil orb machine shall..."Dash looked away as Ogel continued his monologue. He turned to his side where Cam dangled, chained at the wrists just like him. Her face was streaked with tears and pain as she neared her final moments."His breath came in ragged coughs as he struggled to speak, "Ever since I saw, you... The day you stepped into my life..."Cam met his gaze with tear-filled eyes."I just wish...""...aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAA" A deafening expl LAT Fic 03 - SparksFZZZZT."The black-haired electrical engineer stared at the panel in front of him. "I knew should have brought something to..." he glanced over his shoulder at a passing coworker. "
Hey, you - pilot, come here. Give me a hand."The ginger-haired young man blinked and looked at him. The pilot walked over. "As long as it's quick. I'm... kind of looking for someone right now.""Hold this for me while I try to figure out what's going on here." He handed the pilot a flashlight. "Just shine the light right over here."The young pilot obeyed. After a few moments of silence, he cleared his throat. "I'm Flex, by the way."The dark-haired agent didn't look up from his work. My name is Charge. I'm the one who gave approval to hire you two years ago."Flex gave a slight grin. I've seen you around the base a lot but never actually ever got to meet you."Charge nodded in reply. LAT Fic 02 - And Everything Nice"And so I was all like, 'Lady, I was here yesterday and I put those shoes on hold and they said they'd still have them until I came back,' and she was like, 'Um, no sorry but we don't put things on hold after five pm.' And I was like...."Cam sighed slowly as the purple-haired technician prattled on.
The new agent - Radia, her name was - had been talking nonstop for the last half hour and didn't show any signs of slowing."And so I go to the next store and they're like, "No, we don't have any shoes on hold for anyone named 'Radia,' and so I'm all like...."Cam over at the younger agent's work space and raised her hand. "Radia gave a start as her train of thought jolted to an abrupt stop. Are you going to get those parts welded in, or should I do it?""Oh, I can do it unless you want to, sister."Radia immediately went back to her yammering as she started to carry the the laser-guided assembly sh 06/08/2015With this fast-paced first installment of the Voyagers series, MacHale helps kick off a multiplatform, multi-author project à la the 39 Clues; five subsequent books from Robin Wasserman, Patrick Carman, Kekla Magoon, Jeanne DuPrau, and Wendy Mass will follow, published two months apart. Eight 12-year-olds from around the world have been chosen to compete for four spots in Project Alpha, a deep-space mission to secure a new power source for Earth.
(Due to the physical stresses of the trip, no one older than 12 can safely make the journey.) As the competitors face off against (holographic) dinosaurs and try their hands at video-game-like flight simulators, their true natures slowly surface. Once the four winners are chosen, the story skips over the subsequent months of training to the team’s first mission, giving readers a taste of the challenges they will face. While the characters don’t get much fleshing out in this first installment, their relationships, both competitive and connective, provide entertaining banter and conflicts. A slew of twists should keep readers looking forward to volume two. Children's Literature - Patricia K. Landy The world is going dark. In order to save the planet, eight specially chosen twelve-year-olds participate in a grueling challenge to win their spot in Project Alpha. The contest tests their mental and physical problem solving skills and their ability to work together. The four winners are trained and sent to planet J-16 to accomplish the first step of finding a new power source for Earth.
Their adventure is formidable: to extract the tooth of a raptagon, a giant dinosaur. After a daunting battle, they take the tooth, board the mothership, and head off into the galaxy to find the next piece of the puzzle. However, McHale does not lay out such an easy course. Dash is not twelve years old. He is twelve and a half. He cannot survive the stress of the voyage once he turns thirteen so he takes daily shots to keep his metabolism young. Without those shots, he is certain to die and leave the crew without a valuable fourth member. Then a mystery stow-away pops up and he is actually the brains behind the whole project. Meanwhile, the other four, those who did not make the cut, are hot on their trail. McHale not only creates a highly adventurous and riveting plot, he creates an interactive world: readers can go online to follow the characters and be part of the crew and mission. The series is well thought out and quite appropriate for any discussion of climate change, the value of teamwork, and, of course, the motivation behind the four supposedly left behind.
Reviewer: Patricia K. Landy; Ages 8 to 12. 10/01/2015Gr 4–6—In the very near future, Earth's fossil fuel supply is almost exhausted. Even mandatory daily eight-hour blackouts can only postpone the final catastrophe for a few years. The ultra-secret Project Alpha has identified an extraterrestrial substance that could provide unlimited energy, but the components lie far out in space. No conventional spaceship could bring back the mysterious Source in time to save the planet, but the highly classified Gamma Speed process can shorten the trek to a single year. However, no one over the age of 14 can withstand the metabolic pressure that the Gamma process entails, so the scientists conduct a worldwide search for an elite crew of 12-year-old astronauts. Dash Conroy desperately wants to be one of the squad, not only for the adventure but also for the 10 million dollar prize awarded to each member. But he is joining seven other semifinalists for the final testing at Alpha headquarters, and only four of them can ultimately be chosen.
As Dash and his cohorts compete in physical contests, team exercises, and virtual reality combat, they begin to suspect that the Alpha project may not be quite what it appears on the surface. Moreover, there is a sinister counterpart to the Alpha group—and the Omega project has plans of its own for the vital Source. As the first entry in the projected six-book series, this title focuses on Dash and the Alpha team as they train for their mission and experience their first interplanetary adventure on the jungle planet J-16, home to carnivorous alien beasts; and the first component of the Source. Each upcoming volume will be written by a different author, in the manner of Scholastic's "Infinity Ring" series, and will follow both the Alpha and Omega teams in their dangerous race across the cosmos to complete the Source. Inserted "Visual Analysis" cards for use with the series' website will probably disappear quickly from library copies, but the online activities can be completed without them.
VERDICT Quick action, snappy dialogue, and frequent touches of humor will appeal to middle grade science fiction fans.—Elaine E. Knight, formerly at Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL 2015-05-18This series opener has the potential to turn its young readers positively cynical. The titular Project Alpha is designed to solve an energy crisis. The members of the project travel in enormous fleets of SUVs and Humvees and attack helicopters. The kids competing to join the project have to face holographic dinosaurs and gorillas. This seems like a huge waste of power at a time when there are government-mandated blackouts every night to save energy—even at Disney World. And as in any good thriller, the government turns out to be keeping deep secrets. When the man behind the project says, "There is no danger whatsoever," it sounds more than a little ominous. MacHale has thrown in every monster and gadget an adventure fan could want, including spaceships and robots with lasers. But the plot twists are so familiar the action seems a little generic.