You Can’t Have My Planet, but Take My Brother, Please

Middle-child Giles feels painfully average: “In the sandwich of my family, I was the flavor that couldn’t be tasted.” Wedged between his older brother, “King Goodie-Goodie,” and his sister, a violin prodigy, 13-year-old Giles longs for a quest to make him a hero. One soon presents itself after Giles witnesses Jerry, “king of Intergalactic Realty,” attempt to sell planet Earth to Queen Mooby, King Zoodle, and their aptly named daughter, Princess Petulance. Humans will be evicted and beamed to the planet Desoleen unless Giles and his young alien attorney (and crush) Tula can clean the island of Manhattan in 24 hours. With help from two friends, an array of wild inventions, and fellow New York City kids, Giles might just save Earth. Packed with self-deprecating asides and cornball humor, Mihaley’s debut, though imaginative, strains too hard after humor as it hopscotches from one bizarre twist to the next. Giles’s quest is overly convoluted, and only the most dedicated readers are likely to stick with it until the tidy (in multiple senses) ending. Ages 9–12. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Apr.)