BEYOND THE STARS: MG Book Review, Author Interview, and Giveaway with Guest Blogger, Elliott Kurta

In April, Elliott Kurta reviewed Doreen Berger's science fiction middle-grade novel, The Captain's Daughters. In this post, he reviews the sequel and interviews the author.

REVIEW

In Beyond the Stars by Doreen Berger, twin sisters, and troublemakers Robin and Diane are back, this time with a new friend. In this adventure, their father has asked them to welcome a new arrival to the Polaris, the starship he captains. The sisters quickly befriend their visitor, Jannel, who’s the young future ruler of Lasusia. She has been sent to the starship to wait out a mysterious and lethal virus that’s been spreading across her planet until a cure can be engineered. When the friends decide to take a day trip to the planet, an accident ends up stranding the three of them there. Now infected with the virus, Robin and Diane are in a race to get back to the Polaris before they’re left to the same fate as the rest of the planet.

As Diane and Robin catch the virus, they discover that it isn’t what it appears to be. With the fate of the planet resting on them, the girls will have to outwit a new enemy and make it back to the starship before the secret behind the disease dies along with them.

         Combining science fiction with fantasy, Beyond the Stars is a more playful take on similar works like Star Wars or Star Trek, with an immersive, realistic universe and exciting action sequences that include strong emotional undertones. Robin and Diane, with their unique perspectives and mischievous minds, are the ideal protagonists to introduce kids to sci-fi. But while their adventures may appeal to elementary schoolers, the subject matter of the book is more appropriate for older middle schoolers. Beyond the Stars is more complicated than the prequel, The Captain’s Daughters, as it not only shows the sisters developing an interest in the boys aboard the Polaris but also struggling with their emotions about their father’s relationship with a woman. Additionally, Robin and Diane are kidnapped twice and infected with a lethal pathogen over the course of this story, which might upset younger readers. Still, the cheery protagonists and their antics keep this story upbeat despite all of the emotional scenes and challenges they face.

Robin and Diane make excellent tour guides of an imaginative, expansive galaxy, and are one of many unique characters. Seeing Doreen Berger’s characters interact is often entertaining, and many of the conversations help push the story forward. However, there’s often a general lack of contractions in most exchanges, leading to conversations that sound unrealistic.

         All in all, Beyond the Stars, is the quintessential sci-fi novel for any mature middle-schooler or teen. Packed with laughter and jokes while still taking the reader on a riveting ride through the stars, this story will not disappoint. But despite all the new planets and fascinating alien species, Robin and Diane are what set this book apart from any other. The unlikely heroines are the defining features of The Captain’s Daughters series, capable of conveying shockingly authentic emotions that make even an impossible scenario, like being trapped in an alien world, seem real and relatable. Beyond the Stars may attract readers with a blend of adventure and alien worlds, but it’ll be Diane and Robin that makes them decide to keep reading.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

ELLIOTT: What inspired the plot of Beyond the Stars?

DOREEN: Diane and Robin are caring young girls who like to help people, so I came up with a plot that would allow them to do this. Believe it or not, the plot was conceived long before the COVID-19 pandemic and it did not influence the plot at all.

ELLIOTT: Do you have further plans for The Captain’s Daughters series?

DOREEN: Yes, I would like to write a third book! Ideas are floating around in my head!

ELLIOTT: What was your favorite part to write?

DOREEN: My favorite part of the book takes place on Masilon when Diane and Robin are lost in the forest and come upon the unicorn. I think it adds a bit of wonder and awe to the book.

ELLIOTT: Which scene was the hardest to write?

DOREEN: The hardest part to write was Diane’s anger toward her father and the confusion she and Robin felt about their father’s involvement with Joanna, a past love he reconnects with. 

ELLIOTT: In Beyond the Stars, Diane and Robin have both matured. What made you decide to have Diane and Robin age between adventures instead of keeping them young?

DOREEN: To be honest, I really wanted to keep them young, but in the long run I felt it would add more depth to their characters for them to mature and have new experiences. 

ELLIOTT: Beyond the Stars features two fictional planets; Masilon and Lasusia. How did you come up with such original worlds, and what influenced the creation of both?

DOREEN: Both planets came from my imagination! Years of reading and watching science-fiction helped to pay a part in how I think about alien worlds and how they might differ from ours…and how similar they might be to ours.

ELLIOTT: How much of Beyond the Stars is based on real science? For example, the Polaris, an enormous starship that Diane and Robin’s father captains, is a remarkable example of some of the futuristic technology in Beyond the Stars. What sort of research did you do before designing the Polaris?

DOREEN: Again, most is from my imagination and what I would like to see on a starship of the future. I really don’t know how much of it is realistic, but it is certainly something I like to dream about! The great thing about writing futuristic science fiction is that anything is possible!

GIVEAWAY

Leave a comment with your email address by August 6 and I'll enter your name in the giveaway. U.S. addresses only. All comments must be approved before they are published. Be patient and you'll see yours published too! Congratulations to Claudia Friddell who won STELLA.

You'll find other great MG books on Greg Pattridge's MMGM blog. Check it out! 

THE CAPTAIN'S DAUGHTERS- PART II: An Interview by Guest Blogger Elliott Kurta with Author Doreen Berger

If you missed Elliott's review of The Captain's Daughters click here.

INTERVIEW

ELLIOTT: What inspired you to write The Captain’s Daughters?

 

DOREEN: The Captain’s Daughters was inspired by my life-long friendship with my best friend Robin.  As kids, we were always getting into some kind of mischief. We met in the third grade and we both loved science-fiction and dreamed about living on a starship and how cool that would be. That became the basis for the book. 

 

         ELLIOTT: I didn’t know The Captain’s Daughters had such a fascinating origin story. This novel must have been in the brainstorming phase for quite some time!

 

ELLIOTT: Is William Marsh, Diane and Robin’s father, based on a person you know? For that matter, are any of the rest of the characters?

 

DOREEN: Since the book was inspired by my friendship with Robin, and a few of Diane and Robin’s escapades actually came from some of the trouble we got into, it only seemed natural to base some of the other characters in the book on people we know. Captain Marsh is based on my dad, who was my hero, with a lot of other influences thrown in! He was a fun character to write.

 

ELLIOTT: How long did it take you to write The Captain’s Daughters, and how has the book changed during the writing and publishing process?

 

DOREEN: The Captain’s Daughters took about six months to write.

 

ELLIOTT: What inspired you to name the Polaris—The ship that Robin and Diane’s father pilots—after the north star?

 

DOREEN: Polaris can be found almost directly above the North Pole and is nicknamed the North Star. It is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor (the Little Bear). As the Earth turns, Polaris appears to remain stationary and all the stars appear to rotate around it. It is the only star in the sky to have this unique characteristic, and since its stationary position points due north, Polaris can be used for navigation in the Northern Hemisphere. As it says in the introduction to the book, “For centuries, explorers need only look to the heavens and to Polaris, to find their way safely home.” It seemed appropriate to name the starship Polaris, as Captain Marsh will always bring his crew, and his daughters, safely home.

 

ELLIOTT: How would you describe The Captain’s Daughters in one sentence?

DOREEN: A fun romp through the cosmos with two mischievous sisters!

 

ELLIOTT: What scenes were the most fun to write? Do you have a favorite scene out of the whole book?

DOREEN: Without a doubt, the scenes when the girls get themselves into trouble were so much fun to write! I especially like the one where the girls sneak into the secondary control room and send out emergency orders for pizza. It always makes me giggle.

ELLIOTT: What does your writing process look like, from start to end?

 

DOREEN: I am an undisciplined writer! I only write when the mood strikes, but when the story starts to fit into place, I can’t stop and will sometimes write from morning to bedtime. 

 

ELLIOTT: Robin and Diane don’t get to spend much time with their father because of his responsibilities as captain of the Polaris. What does a typical day look like for Marsh, and what are his responsibilities as captain?

 

DOREEN: The second book, Beyond the Stars, describes more of Captain Marsh’s routine. He is an early riser, spends at least an hour every morning in the gym and then meets his daughters and senior staff in his private dining room for breakfast. His day is spent navigating his ship and overseeing the 2000+ crew members on the Polaris. He is renowned for his negotiating skills and the planets he has brought into the LUP (League of Universal Planets). If all is calm on the Polaris, he has dinner with his daughters and senior staff. Before his last shift on the bridge, he stops in to say goodnight to his daughters and chat about their day. 

 

ELLIOTT: There are mentions of a third world war, the League of Universal Planets, and a war with a species called the Frazons who take over other planets. These events aren’t explained but seem to be important. Could you give us a brief history of the universe in which your book takes place?

 

DOREEN: In my imagination, there is a third World War sometime in the twenty-second century. Almost 900 million people die in that war and there is hardly a family on Earth that does not lose a loved one. Society finally realizes the need for global peace, and though it takes a while, the goal is realized and war on Earth ceases to exist. This peace brings global cooperation and through joint efforts, space exploration is finally realized. Other planets and alien races are contacted and the LUP (League of Universal Planets) is formed. But, there has to be an enemy to make life interesting (at least for a book!), and that is where the Frazons come in. 

 

ELLIOTT: Could you give us a summary of the sequel to The Captain’s Daughters?

DOREEN: The sequel is Beyond the Stars. Mischievous sisters Diane and Robin are already in trouble with their father for a stunt they just pulled. Their punishment (grounded…again!) is cut short with the arrival of Jannel, a soft-spoken, shy girl roughly their age, and the future ruler of the planet Lasusia. Jannel has been sent to the Polaris for safekeeping from a deadly virus running rampant on her home world. As Diane and Robin learn about their new friend and the problems she faces on her war-torn planet, they vow to help her, even though they understand it means getting deeper into trouble with their father. But they are soon in over their heads, stricken by the virus, and trapped by their father’s mortal enemy. They must use all their instincts and resources to escape before they perish from the virus, along with all hopes of planetary peace.

 

ELLIOTT: Who designed the cover for The Captain’s Daughters? How much of a role did you play in the design process?

 

DOREEN: The cover for The Captain’s Daughters was designed by a company in New Zealand called Damonza. In my mind I knew basically what I wanted (the Santa Fe landscape fading into a night sky, horses that resemble Pepper and Cloud, the different planets, and the space station). I gave them this info and they ran with it. I think they did a fabulous job…I love the cover! And the cover for Beyond the Stars is just as nice!

GIVEAWAY

Leave a comment by May 5 to enter this giveaway. (If you already entered the first part you'll have 2 chances). Please leave your name and email address if you are new to my blog. Continental US addresses only. 

REMEMBER! You'll find more great MG reviews on Greg Pattridge's ALWAYS IN THE MIDDLE blog. 

THE CAPTAIN'S DAUGHTERS- Part I: A Review by Guest Blogger, Elliot Kurta

     The Captain’s Daughters is a sci-fi novel about twins, Robin and Diane, who are kidnapped by aliens while on a vacation with their father. While Robin and Diane try to find out who kidnapped them and where they’re being taken, their father uses his position as captain of the starship Polaris to search for his missing daughters. Using help from various unexpected allies, the two sisters and their father are able to regain their bearings and begin to make their way back to each other.

REVIEW

Robin and Diane spend most, if not all of their time aboard the Polaris, doing homework and pulling pranks on crew members while their father captains the spaceship. Which is why they jump at the opportunity to spend a week at their grandparents’ ranch to get quality time with their father. Unfortunately for Robin and Diane, a few greedy aliens (the Mogs) have other plans and kidnap them during a horse ride. Now at the mercy of the vicious Mogs, Robin and Diane must rely on their tricks and story-telling abilities, the same attributes that got them into trouble aboard the Polaris, to get them out of the hands of their captors. But while the two sisters and their father try to find each other, the three quickly realizes that they may be far further apart than previously suspected.

            With a combination of space battles, drama, adventures, and undeniably entertaining sisterly antics, The Captain’s Daughters will appeal to many audiences. Middle schoolers and young adults will be sucked into this novel as they read about Robin and Diane’s adventures. However, some parts of this story might not be appropriate for younger readers. In particular, chapter nine, “Looking Back”, where it’s revealed that Robin and Diane’s parents were killed, and their father’s brother, Uncle William, was entrusted with their care and well-being. However, this chapter isn't graphic and ends up being important to the plot.

Even though The Captain’s Daughters starts with Robin and Diane being kidnapped, readers also get to glimpse their childhood. The author, Doreen Berger, uses a series of Captain Mark’s flashbacks to present some of Robin and Diane’s defining moments. From hijacking the Polaris’ transmitters for the purpose of sending out pizza orders to learning the hard way why it’s important to listen to your parents, there’s no shortage of interesting memories. For example, takethis passage from page 287:

“He’s quite rude,” Keeran said to Diane and Robin.

Diane sighed, exasperated. “Yes, he is, isn’t he? It’s so hard to get good help these days. Sometimes we just don’t know what to do with him.

“Will he be reprimanded?” Rarten asked, so seriously that neither Diane nor Robin knew how to respond.

…

            “When we return to the ship,” she said sadly, “I’m afraid he’ll have to be given… ice cream.”

            “Ice cream?” Keeran asked. “I am not familiar with that term.”

            “An old earth punishment,” Robin explained… “Very, very unpleasant.”

            Rest assured, the quote is much funnier in context, and is only a small sample of the novel’s humor.

            While Robin and Diane easily endear themselves to the cast of this book, observing their own special bond is one of the highlights of the story. It’s clear either sister would do anything for the other, and throughout the story their relationship only continues to strengthen. This duo is the selling point of this novel, and throughout the book their laughter, tears, and bold humor seeps through the pages. With an emotional story that plays out in the stars, The Captain’s Daughters is a must read for adventurers of all ages.

                                            

Stay tuned for Part II in which Elliott interviews the author.

GIVEAWAY

If you are interested in winning this book, Doreen will send you an autographed copy. Leave a comment (with your email address if you are new to my blog) and I'll enter your name once. Leave a comment after Part II and you'll be in twice. 

Congratulations to my new follower, Carol Doeringer who won HELLO BABY, I'M YOUR MOM from last week's blog. 

Don't forget to check out the other wonderful middle grade books on Greg Pattridge's MMGM site!