This is a totally cute, totally funny book. I actually laughed out loud several times and shared it with my husband. There was a little bit in the middle where I wondered where the story was going as more characters on the team are introduced--important setup for future novels, I'm sure--but as soon as those things came together, I was back and enjoying the story. I absolutely LOVED the ending. We're not actually told what sport is played in the Galaxy Games until the end of the book--and the surprise is hilariously worth it!! Oh man, too funny and just my sort of humor. I also really enjoyed the cover of the book and the great illustrations throughout. (Well to be honest I wished there were even more illustrations and wished the whole thing could've been a graphic novel, but a delightfully hilarious novel is good too. :) )
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The opening book of the Galaxy Games trilogy finds 11-year-old Tyler Sato at the center of a crisis neither he nor the world expected: a star named after him has turned out not to be a star but an object heading for Earth. The object proves to be a starship bearing some startling news: Earth has declared a challenge against an alien world, one that can only be resolved through a game. Tyler is drafted to lead an international group of young athletes in a contest where he has to learn the rules as he goes along, and hope somehow he doesn't ruin Earth's first contact with the stars.

Greg Fishbone has long displayed a gift for blending likeable characters, just-this-side-of-ludicrous situations, fast-paced action, and humor that both kids and adults will enjoy. (Hey, I was grinning and sometimes laughing out loud, and there wasn't a middle schooler anywhere around.) I was reminded of both the fun adventure feel of the Lucky Starr books I enjoyed as a kid and the character-driven humor of the Discworld books, though the story itself is derivative of neither. I'm definitely looking forward to the next volume. ( )

http://purplemoonmyst.blogspot.com/2011/07/review-galaxy-games.html ( )