Star Scouts

Avani Patel has a serious case of new-kid blues, and the fact that her father has signed her up for a local Flower Scouts troupe only makes matters worse. But Avani winds up joining another group of scouts altogether after she’s abducted by an enthusiastic blue alien named Mabel, who is working on her Star Scouts “collection badge.”Avani happily ditches Flower Scouts to spend time in space with Mabel and her troupe, but these new friendships are challenged during a week at Camp Andromeda, where Avani accidentally ignites a rivalry between her troupe and a group of methane-breathing scouts (aka “toot-breathers”). As Avani attempts to win teleportation, jetpack racing, and other competitions, Lawrence (Muddy Max) delivers a madcap extraterrestrial adventure with no shortage of parallels to more terrestrial scouting activities. Gross-out jokes abound, from recurring gags about “xenoscatology badges” to the robots built by parrotlike Star Scout Steve, which include GOOSE (“all it does is pinch people on the bum”) and the Biometric Ultra Techno Tool or BUTT. It’s an exciting, laugh-a-minute story that plainly reveals the rewards of teamwork, whatever planet one calls home. Ages 8–12. Agent: Kelly Sonnack, Andrea Brown Literary. (Mar.)