Galax-Arena by Gillian Rubinstein is a novel that I love when I was younger. For one of my classes, I was required to reread a novel I remembered from my youth, and during discussion this book came up. I loved this book when I was in elementary school. I was a little surprised to see that it's recommended for kids 12+ because I definitely read it when I was 8 or 9. That's pretty typical for me though.
Galax-Arena is about three siblings: Peter, Joella and Liane. They're kidnapped by a man named Hythe and taken to an alien planet called Vexak. There they are forced to perform for aliens called Vexa in an acrobatic troup that performs in the Galax-Arena. They are not the only children in the Galax-Arena. There are many children from all across Earth. They've cobbled together a language and a means of living, but their entire life centers around performing in the Galax-Arena--and in surviving each performance.
As I was rereading this book, I was surprised at how much I had forgotten. The premise had stayed with me really well. I was shocked by this book in my youth, and it would reoccur to me every so often that this book exists. Rereading it made me so aware of why I identified with Joella. She's not athletic and she's ostracized because of it. That is exactly what I was like when I read this book.
Anyway, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys sci-fi/fantasy stories. It's a short book, and it's compelling enough that it's a quick read.
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