Hello, Nebulon!

In the lively first title in the Galaxy Zack series, set in 2120, Zack is unhappy about moving from Earth to Nebulon for his father’s job. Soaring to their new planet in the family space cruiser, the eight-year-old thinks about how much he’ll miss his best friend, and has nightmares that his new classmates are monstrous aliens and that Nebulite pizza is topped with worms and “extra-moldy cheese.” Yet he’s impressed—as will be readers—by the planet’s gadgetry: cars and bikes zip through the air, and a sideways-moving elevator transports the family through their house. An invisible, talking computer tends to their every need, and Jack’s bed drops from a ceiling panel, as does food that lands on the family’s floating dinner table. Illustrator Jack’s (Toads on Toast) Jetsons-meets-Johnny Neutron illustrations, which appear on every page, energize the story and make its fun, futuristic details all the easier to envision, while O’Ryan’s trim sentences and brisk dialogue are well targeted at beginning readers. A second book, Journey to Juno, is available simultaneously, and four additional titles will arrive later in the year. Ages 5–7. (Apr.)