The Jupiter Pirates: Hunt for the Hydra
By Carrie R. Wheadon,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Space-pirate sibling series ideal for Star Wars-crazed kids.
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What's the Story?
Tycho, his twin sister, Yana, and their big brother, Carlo, have anything but a normal childhood. Their mom is captain of the Shadow Comet, a space ship full of privateers that take precious cargo from Earth ships somewhat in the name of the Jovian Union. All three are training to be captain one day, but only one will get the job. The fateful day Tycho gets his first trial commanding the ship, it doesn't go at all smoothly. The captain of the enemy ship claims to have an Earth diplomat onboard -- making the ship off-limits -- but something seems fishy. This diplomat looks and sounds no different from your average scuzzy pirate. Tycho makes the call to commandeer the ship and take it to the dwarf planet Ceres for trial. That's when things get complicated for the Shadow Comet. The trail of one fake diplomat leads to some real pirates -- nasty ones -- who only work for themselves.
Is It Any Good?
Oh, man, Star Wars fans are going to be all over THE JUPITER PIRATES. (No surprise the author, Jason Fry, wrote Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Visual Guide.) Three siblings are expert spaceship pilots, two of them solving mysteries in their spare time. Fry builds an intriguing world in his first in the series, gearing kids up for the many space battles to come. The climactic battle in HUNT FOR THE HYDRA is a well-crafted nail-biter. The middle lags a bit -- too many political characters for kids to keep track of -- and some of the transitions are a bit rough, but it'll entertain all the same. A bit more artwork would be very welcome. Readers get a layout of the deck and a very not-to-scale look at some planets and moons. How about a picture of crazy cyborg Grandpa, for starters?
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what it would be like to make space piracy your family business. Who would be the captain? First mate? Which grandparent would make the best cranky cyborg? At what age would kids be allowed to fly the ship? Who would you want in your boarding party?
What did you like best about Jupiter Pirates: Hunt for the Hydra? Will you keep reading the series? Why or why not?
What did you learn about our solar system from this book? Kids can tell parents all about dwarf planets -- they weren't even named when they were in school.
Book Details
- Author: Jason Fry
- Genre: Science Fiction
- Topics: Brothers and Sisters, Pirates, Space and Aliens
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Harper
- Publication date: December 23, 2013
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 8 - 12
- Number of pages: 256
- Available on: Nook, Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: July 12, 2017
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