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Trouble in the Stars
Asking for Trouble
The heartwarming and adventure-filled sequel to Trouble in the Stars , in which Trouble, an adorable but dangerous shape-shifter must travel the galaxy on a rescue mission with their best friend Electra and a troublesome baby shapeshifter. Perfect for fans of Greg van Eekhout and Geoff Rodkey.
After the adventure and havoc of escaping the evil General Smag, Trouble is happy to finally be settling in to their new home with their best friend, Electra, and the misfit crew of the Hindsight . Maybe danger is finally behind them. But Trouble has a situation to deal training the rescued baby shapeshifter and helping it figure out who--and what--they are. But trying to be a good big sibling to a proto-being isn't the only challenge facing Trouble.
Trouble's best friend, Electra, was taken from her home as a baby and was raised at a military academy, where she was trained to become a loyal StarLeague cadet. Now Electra is determined to rescue the other cadets so they can have normal childhoods instead of becoming lethal weapons, like her. Her plan? To infiltrate the academy as a senior student and then engineer an escape by the entire student body.
Trouble knows they must help Electra carry out her plan. But when Electra goes missing, Trouble, determined to rescue the rescuer, goes undercover at the academy, even if it's not as easy as you'd think for a shapeshifter to pretend to be a military cadet. Especially when Trouble finds that the baby shapeshifter has come along.
Now Trouble must do whatever it takes to save Electra and the other cadets--and figure out a strange mystery coming from the deep dark edges of space. Because something's coming...
After the adventure and havoc of escaping the evil General Smag, Trouble is happy to finally be settling in to their new home with their best friend, Electra, and the misfit crew of the Hindsight . Maybe danger is finally behind them. But Trouble has a situation to deal training the rescued baby shapeshifter and helping it figure out who--and what--they are. But trying to be a good big sibling to a proto-being isn't the only challenge facing Trouble.
Trouble's best friend, Electra, was taken from her home as a baby and was raised at a military academy, where she was trained to become a loyal StarLeague cadet. Now Electra is determined to rescue the other cadets so they can have normal childhoods instead of becoming lethal weapons, like her. Her plan? To infiltrate the academy as a senior student and then engineer an escape by the entire student body.
Trouble knows they must help Electra carry out her plan. But when Electra goes missing, Trouble, determined to rescue the rescuer, goes undercover at the academy, even if it's not as easy as you'd think for a shapeshifter to pretend to be a military cadet. Especially when Trouble finds that the baby shapeshifter has come along.
Now Trouble must do whatever it takes to save Electra and the other cadets--and figure out a strange mystery coming from the deep dark edges of space. Because something's coming...
288 pages, Hardcover
First published March 15, 2022
4 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Prineas
45 books1,121 followersComing in April 2021 from Philomel, Trouble in the Stars! It's a middle grade science fiction adventure about a shapeshifter kid.
And Dragonfell is out in paperback in April 2020.
Happy reading!
My website: www.sarah-prineas.com
And Dragonfell is out in paperback in April 2020.
Happy reading!
My website: www.sarah-prineas.com
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 1, 2022
I adored Sarah Prineas’ Trouble in the Stars. The adventure continues with this worthy sequel. The crew of the Hindsight is back, including the eponymous Trouble, who more than lives up to his name. The humorous adventure novel includes multiple rescues, sneaking into StarLeague Academy and an assortment of galactic adventures, including discovering an incredibly dangerous creature in Deep Space. I was fortunate enough, once again, listen to it on Audible with narrator Alex McKenna. Here’s hoping we get a third installment!
February 17, 2023
a lovely sequel, full of danger and mystery at the edge of the galaxy, and great found family love!
October 27, 2022
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
After their adventure in Trouble in the Stars, Electra and Trouble are back on the Hindsight with Captain Astra. They have brought along the baby shapeshifter they rescued, who likes to assume the shape of a donut, so they call it that. When the Hindsight goes in search of the cargo ship the Skeleton, they are pursued by the StarLeague ship, Arrow, whose crew has been alerted to their actions due to Donut's shapeshifting. They find the cargo ship at the edge of the universe, but it's difficult to get the cargo off when the ship is wrapped in a blackdragon. They manage to complete their mission, but the Arrow is still stalking them. When Captain Astra tries to sell the supplies, the group meets Electra's mother, who tells them that her sister, Miracle, has also been taken by the StarLeague and forced into training as a cadet, just like Electra was. Electra goes back to the school to try to save her sister, but it's a little harder for Trouble to make it there. With the help of rats who get an identity chip for him (and program it with a fake identity!), he and Donut manage to make their way to the school. Trouble hopes to rescue some other children as well, since the academy procedures are very abusive. Trouble has embraced his human identity, shape shifting mainly when he is hungry and needs to scarf down a pillow, or when he needs to turn into the weapon form for which the Star League created him. He considers Captain Astra his mother, but will this change when he finds out even more secrets about his identity?
Strengths: It was interesting to see Trouble have to babysit another shapeshifter while he was still learning a bit about ontrolling his own powers and settling into his human form. Finding Electra's mother was fortuitous, and her desire to go back to the school and rescue her sister was understandable. The Hindsight's schedule is flexible enough for the two children to go on this mission while they are worried about what the appearance of blackdragons means for the StarLeague. There's plenty of action and adventure, and middle school readers who are always hungry will be sympathetic to Trouble's need to constantly eat!
Weaknesses: This started with an overview of all of the crew of the Hindsight, who are a colorful bunch from a variety of backgrounds. I struggled to keep them all straight, and then they really didn't show up again in the book! N.B. I have never watched the first Star Wars movie beyond the cantina scene, so apparently my tolerance for a large number of alien life forms at once is pretty low!
What I really think: This is a great action oriented science fiction tale for readers who enjoyed Fry's Space Pirates, Lander's Blastaway, Emerson's Last Day on Mars and MacDougall's Mars Evacuees. There is always a need for more books like this for fans of Star Wars and Star Trek. It seems like there should be at least one more book.
After their adventure in Trouble in the Stars, Electra and Trouble are back on the Hindsight with Captain Astra. They have brought along the baby shapeshifter they rescued, who likes to assume the shape of a donut, so they call it that. When the Hindsight goes in search of the cargo ship the Skeleton, they are pursued by the StarLeague ship, Arrow, whose crew has been alerted to their actions due to Donut's shapeshifting. They find the cargo ship at the edge of the universe, but it's difficult to get the cargo off when the ship is wrapped in a blackdragon. They manage to complete their mission, but the Arrow is still stalking them. When Captain Astra tries to sell the supplies, the group meets Electra's mother, who tells them that her sister, Miracle, has also been taken by the StarLeague and forced into training as a cadet, just like Electra was. Electra goes back to the school to try to save her sister, but it's a little harder for Trouble to make it there. With the help of rats who get an identity chip for him (and program it with a fake identity!), he and Donut manage to make their way to the school. Trouble hopes to rescue some other children as well, since the academy procedures are very abusive. Trouble has embraced his human identity, shape shifting mainly when he is hungry and needs to scarf down a pillow, or when he needs to turn into the weapon form for which the Star League created him. He considers Captain Astra his mother, but will this change when he finds out even more secrets about his identity?
Strengths: It was interesting to see Trouble have to babysit another shapeshifter while he was still learning a bit about ontrolling his own powers and settling into his human form. Finding Electra's mother was fortuitous, and her desire to go back to the school and rescue her sister was understandable. The Hindsight's schedule is flexible enough for the two children to go on this mission while they are worried about what the appearance of blackdragons means for the StarLeague. There's plenty of action and adventure, and middle school readers who are always hungry will be sympathetic to Trouble's need to constantly eat!
Weaknesses: This started with an overview of all of the crew of the Hindsight, who are a colorful bunch from a variety of backgrounds. I struggled to keep them all straight, and then they really didn't show up again in the book! N.B. I have never watched the first Star Wars movie beyond the cantina scene, so apparently my tolerance for a large number of alien life forms at once is pretty low!
What I really think: This is a great action oriented science fiction tale for readers who enjoyed Fry's Space Pirates, Lander's Blastaway, Emerson's Last Day on Mars and MacDougall's Mars Evacuees. There is always a need for more books like this for fans of Star Wars and Star Trek. It seems like there should be at least one more book.
April 18, 2022
Read this sequel with my kids. My youngest had listened to the "Trouble in Space" audiobook twice, and was very anxiously awaiting this one.
It was really fun to read. I got a lot more enjoyment out of the experience of reading it with both of them (and experiencing their reactions to what was happening) than I would have had from just the book itself though.
Aspects of the story simply didn't make sense to me (It took Trouble 12 years to escape from the lab? What happened to enable that to occur?), but overall, if you enjoyed the first book you should definitely read this one.
I think the main disappointment was that based on how this one ends, it feels unlikely that there will be a third. That's really too bad.
It was really fun to read. I got a lot more enjoyment out of the experience of reading it with both of them (and experiencing their reactions to what was happening) than I would have had from just the book itself though.
Aspects of the story simply didn't make sense to me (It took Trouble 12 years to escape from the lab? What happened to enable that to occur?), but overall, if you enjoyed the first book you should definitely read this one.
I think the main disappointment was that based on how this one ends, it feels unlikely that there will be a third. That's really too bad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 10, 2022
After my fourth graders and I finished Trouble in the Stars, we couldn’t wait to get our hands on Asking for Trouble. The students who were first in line for library holds finished within days and gave it an unqualified ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I concur.
I had missed Trouble in between books and felt comforted being back in his presence. My students couldn’t wait to get back to the shapeshifting and intense sci-fi action. Even students who were previously reluctant to tackle a “long book” (279 pages with generous spacing between lines) are begging their parents for a copy. I’m pretty sure Trouble will be one of their favorite fourth grade memories.
I had missed Trouble in between books and felt comforted being back in his presence. My students couldn’t wait to get back to the shapeshifting and intense sci-fi action. Even students who were previously reluctant to tackle a “long book” (279 pages with generous spacing between lines) are begging their parents for a copy. I’m pretty sure Trouble will be one of their favorite fourth grade memories.
May 8, 2022
After my fourth graders and I finished Trouble in the Stars, we couldn’t wait to get our hands on Asking for Trouble. The students who were first in line for library holds finished within days and gave it an unqualified ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I concur.
I had missed Trouble in between books and felt comforted being back in his presence. My students couldn’t wait to get back to the shapeshifting and intense sci-fi action. Even students who were previously reluctant to tackle a “long book” (279 pages with generous spacing between lines) are begging their parents for a copy. I’m pretty sure Trouble will be one of their favorite fourth-grade memories.
I had missed Trouble in between books and felt comforted being back in his presence. My students couldn’t wait to get back to the shapeshifting and intense sci-fi action. Even students who were previously reluctant to tackle a “long book” (279 pages with generous spacing between lines) are begging their parents for a copy. I’m pretty sure Trouble will be one of their favorite fourth-grade memories.
November 14, 2022
No. Just, no. Too much ridiculous implausibility. Lost opportunities for character development of the ones we know already. (Why was Amby removed?) 'Boarding school' drama as if we hadn't enough of that in older books. Argh... I could go on but it's not worth it.
Maybe I'd give it two stars if I didn't have high expectations based on the first book. But I must learn; don't expect too much from prolific authors; they're too likely to be rushing.
Maybe I'd give it two stars if I didn't have high expectations based on the first book. But I must learn; don't expect too much from prolific authors; they're too likely to be rushing.
June 17, 2022
A thoroughly enjoyable sequel to Trouble in the Stars.
What I liked:
Trouble attempting to impersonate a cadet
Donut the baby shapeshifter
The friendship between Trouble and Electra, the former cadet
The love between Trouble and Captain Astra
And how the author answers the big questions.
What does it mean to be human?
How does one create a family from scratch?
And what does love look like?
What I liked:
Trouble attempting to impersonate a cadet
Donut the baby shapeshifter
The friendship between Trouble and Electra, the former cadet
The love between Trouble and Captain Astra
And how the author answers the big questions.
What does it mean to be human?
How does one create a family from scratch?
And what does love look like?
June 10, 2025
I wish this book was made into a longer more complex series and that it didn't end like that. I hate stories that end with someone losing their powers, not that I hate this one I just don't like the trope.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 18, 2022
Love this series ! Book 2 was just as good as the first one and from what I can tell, it’s the last one. It felt finished.
A wonderful space adventure tale
A wonderful space adventure tale
November 13, 2022
This was a great sequel. I love Trouble!
December 14, 2022
Well, this was adorable.
June 28, 2024
Read this aloud to my space loving 8 year old and he loved the series so much we had to start over again. Such a solid, caring, lovable main character. Great example of friendship and families.
April 14, 2025
Super cute. My 11-year old and I finally found the sequel to continue reading about Trouble. Geared for a younger audience, so my older two weren't interested, but that's their problem.
July 30, 2022
Although this is a short book, it's a densely packed one. There's lots of world building, lots of history, mystery and adventure. It's quite the page turner. The ending, though hinted at since the very first book, still took me by surprise.
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2022/comm...
http://pussreboots.com/blog/2022/comm...
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews