Astral Alliance Series

The First Starborn, book #2 in the Astral Alliance series, is a space adventure for middle grade through young adult. A Mysterious Power After learning that her father is still alive, Megan Wills embarks on a rescue journey with her newly adoptive sisters, Crystal and Zoe. Their destination is Beta Four, a frozen prison planet, where he was exiled because of a false charge of space piracy. Megan is constantly chased by Camille Fairbanks, the widow of Admiral Fairbanks, who blames her for his death and, for some unknown reason, wants to capture her father as well. Megan must avoid deadly dangers on Beta Four and other planets as she zooms through space following clues that her father left for her. The trail leads Megan to Gamma Five, the mysterious planet that infuses the Starborn, children who have special abilities, with their amazing powers. There, she must follow the most dangerous path of all, an underground maze filled with perils, as she tries to locate the source of power and the identity of The First Starborn.

Branded as a pirate, collared like a dog, chained to a wall at night, and isolated as a prisoner on a journey to another planet, could the situation get any worse for thirteen-year-old Megan Willis? Much worse. Megan’s parents have been sentenced to death, and now she is speeding away through a space-fabric wormhole, unable to try to save them. Also, her ship’s captain frequently interrogates her about a mysterious gem called a dragon’s eye, and he delivers punishing shocks through her collar when she refuses to reveal its location. Megan has one slim hope. They will soon land, and most of the crew will leave on a mission to find the captain’s kidnapped son. Then maybe, just maybe, she will be able to free herself, sneak away, and search for her family’s ship, the Astral Dragon. Seemingly impossible barriers stand in the way. The crew of a hostile ship wants Megan and her dragon’s eye for themselves, and slave traders on the planet are always on the prowl, looking for their next captive. They have no idea that Megan is far from the easy catch she appears to be.

This fast-paced YA space opera (reminiscent of Star Wars) follows a strong female protagonist, Megan, on an interplanetary search for her mother. On her journey, Megan witnesses the horrors of child trafficking and slavery and joins with a group of other teens to fight against corrupt systems and stand up for the vulnerable. Full of unusual characters and daring escapes, Search for the Astral Dragon draws readers into a world of snarky spaceship computer systems, a variety of different sentient species, spaceship tech, and magical elements. Megan is smart and quick-thinking, competent with spacecraft technology, and a person of strong character who’s experiences give readers difficult questions to consider. Themes: What is Justice? Slavery Violence