QUANTUM INTERSTELLAR SPORTS LEAGUE

With ownership of the entire Earth at stake, a seemingly random group of young athletes is tasked with winning an intergalactic football tournament.

Because everyone chosen for the Planet Earth Defenders team is under 14 and none have ever even played football, they've clearly been set up for failure. So, can the squad, led by its terrified and unathletic designated quarterback, Wyatt, figure out how to leverage the various basketball, gymnastics, ballet, arm wrestling, and other skills it does have in time to save the world? Losing 72-6 to the hulking alien Droglidorians in the first game doesn’t inspire confidence; still, throwing out the standard playbook turns out to be a good first step. And, as outrageously brutal, toothy, toxic slime–spitting opponents come and go, the team jells together in time to face the Yextals—the biggest, meanest, most carnivorous foe of all—in the finals. Wyatt turns out to have such an unexpected knack for leadership and, in the crunch, clever improvisational skills that he comes away with a new, well-earned sense of self-confidence. In his narrative and Dorman’s free-wheeling, all-action scenes, the Defenders appear as a notably diverse bunch, both multiracial and, as it includes several immigrants from other planets, multispecies. The large font, ample white space, fast pace, and abundant illustrations will attract reluctant readers.

Gridiron heroics in space, with spotlights on the personal and collective value of team play.