Touch and Go

September 1, 2022
Middle schooler Albert Kinney evades more murder attempts while searching for both peace and public glory on the playing pitch. Having been recruited from Earth in Star Striker: Game On! (2021) to play the soccer(ish) game johka on planets in the Fŭigor Solar System, Albert finds himself struggling to get past feelings of guilt and inadequacy in order to regain an essential mystical union called "ahn" with his Zeenod teammates, all while training for the huge upcoming match, which will be held partly on ice, and contriving to stay alive through multiple efforts to assassinate him for reasons of interplanetary politics. Meanwhile, in what amounts to a second plotline rather than a subplot, mad botmaker Mehklen Pahck schemes to secretly switch Albert out for an android of his own design...once he escapes from prison. What with all these intertwined threads, it's no surprise that actual game action doesn't get underway until nearly the end, but as Amato is focusing less on plot than character in this series, it's the way Albert copes with his internal challenges that takes center stage anyway. Through meditation and with teammates on his side--as well as an unusually smart dog who occasionally takes over narratorial duties and friendly classmate Jessica--Albert does regain balance and confidence just in time for a properly spectacular performance. As before, minimal description makes racial identity difficult to determine. Will score higher with sports fans of the inner game than the on-field sort. (Science fiction. 9-12)

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