Middle Grade is generally a tough sell for me, though I have by and large been pretty happy with the MG books in the High Republic era. That said, as enjoyable as the stories are from a character point of view, their plot hasn’t always connected to the Young Adult and the Adult in as direct a way as those two will connect to each other. All of that changes, however, with Quest For Planet X by Tessa Gratton.

The Story

Jedi Padawan Rooper Nitani is hanging around at the Jedi Temple on Batuu, engaging in some independent study while her Master Silandra Sho is away on missions. She doesn’t mind though, because the time on Batuu means she gets to hang around with her friend Dass Leffbruk. Excitement in the air is high, as the Graf and San Tekka families are organizing a race for prospectors to chart new hyperspace lanes, which Dass is set to take part in with his father. Their plans change very quickly when Dass convinces Rooper to help out his friend Sky Graf, who has taken their brother’s ship and intends to use the chaos of the event to sneak away and search for the mysterious Planet X, which is the last place they saw their father. Complicating matters is Path of the Open Hand member Fel Ix, who has been sent on a mission from the Mother that threatens to derail their plans.

My Impressions

I loved it?

Alright, I admit that’s cheating. But I was pleasantly surprised by the turns this book took, mostly because Middle Grade can be hit or miss for me. Sometimes there’s so much emphasis on an adventure that will keep the attention of a target reader much younger than me that I tend to zone out. But while there was action aplenty in Quest for Planet X, what really sold it was how character focused it was.

So much of the tension in this book was derived from Rooper, Dass and Sky each wanting their own thing, and trying to navigate getting what they wanted while also trying to convince the other two to go along with it.