NASA is opening a program to send young people to space. Four kids and one alternate are chosen for the program. There’s Bradley who is a football star and struggles between honoring his dad’s football dreams and secretly wanting to be a bit of an egghead. There’s Tia who frequently skips school to help out at her legal guardian brother’s auto repair shop. She’s a genius with cars, but struggles with her grades, and only took the NASA test to prove to some snobby girls in her class she could. There’s Steven who has cerebral palsy and wants to show everyone that his disability shouldn’t keep him out of the stars. There’s Andromeda, who is always peppy and energetic and wants to go to space to see if aliens love art too. And there’s Indira, who studies hard and helps keep her many little siblings in line for her parents who work hard. Adult astronaut Leland Melvin is their team leader and is getting them whipped into shape for their first mission, to get to the space station and boost it back to a better orbit. But they have to pass their training, get over their personal hang ups, become a solid team, and make it off the launch pad first.

This was an enjoyable middle grade kid space team training and first mission adventure. I like that the kids had a variety of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, and even though they are all there to go to space, they have different interests and talents too. Plus it was great that Steven was in a wheelchair and looking forward to the freedoms being in space would give him. The mission to the space station doesn’t go smoothly, and they have to do some problem solving and crisis management. And the ending leaves this open for more adventures in the future. Hand this to kids who dream of going to space and graphic novel fans.

Notes on content [based on ARC]:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: There are some hazardous situations, but a damaged should is the worst injury, and the character recovers from that quickly.
Ethnic diversity: Leland and Steven are Black American (and Steven is in a wheelchair), Andromeda appears to be Asian American, Tia is Latina American, and Bradley is white American (and has a father who is dyslexic).
LGBTQ+ content: None specified
Other: Several of the kids are dealing with self-doubt and impostor-syndrome. There’s a lot of puking during the training montages (mostly implied, not shown).

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In SPACE CHASERS, Tia is stunned when she’s selected to join an elite group of teens training for a NASA mission into space. She joins a group of highly able and talented middle schoolers for a rigorous training program, at times struggling to feel like she belongs. On the day of the mission, a mishap leads the kids to end up in space without any adults. They’ll need to band together and use all their skills from their training program and beyond to survive and make a safe return to Earth.

While readers will have to suspend belief to engage with some of the plot points, there’s more than enough action in this graphic novel, including a high stakes ending, to hook and keep readers. The countdown style banners throughout the text that display the time remaining until the big mission help build tension and reinforce the space theme. SPACE CHASERS is a fun STEM forward story full of positive messages about teamwork and inclusiveness that will be enjoyed by adventure-seeking readers and those with an interest in space and science.

This was a fun graphic novel. Young readers who dream of going to space camp or are interested in astronomy will enjoy this title.

A fun middle-grade space adventure that's sure to entertain young readers! Though suspension of belief will have to happen for several plot points (no, dogs can't live in space on their own and children would never be allowed to fly a spacecraft) the storyline is engaging and the illustrations are fabulous. I also appreciate the undercurrent of inclusivity throughout. The overall message that anyone can succeed in STEM no matter where they come from or what they look like is an important one for our students.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!