Talatu

16 year old Talatu Idris is as desperate as anyone for the Colony Ship d'Artagnan's Honour to arrive at Barnard's Star. There would be her first ever look at a real sky, there would be adventure - a chance to prove herself as a Midshipman - and, most of all, she would be out from under the watchful eyes of her disapproving mother.

However, Talatu gets far more adventure than she bargained for. Captured by the surprisingly intelligent JanchuaCrax, she has to convince the planet's inhabitants that they should not "turn every animal and plant against the human invaders".

Talatu has to channel her Nigerian father's storytelling ability and what she has learned about 'Gaia' to convince her captors that the first violent contact between humans and the JanchuCrax is not the only way.

Dennis M. Lane has combined the language of his poetry with the pace of his short stories to create a "Rite of Passage" for modern teens. Taking the reader through Talatu's military training, capture and journey through a dangerous wilderness; all this before she has to take on the mantle of defender of the human colony!

Talatu is a young adult novel in the 'Heinlein juvenile' vein but with a twenty-first century sensibility. The heroine is confident and resourceful, but, in many ways, out of her depth on a planet. Will her journey be the making of her, or the ending of her?

Suitable for all ages.