Children's Review: The Intergalactic Adventures of Queen Bea

Based on a promotional eBook received from NetGalley in exchange for a review.



The Intergalactic Adventures of Queen Bea
Written by Jeanne Gransee Barker

Overall Rating: 3/5
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Writing:  3/5

This coming-of-age story is set against the backdrop of winter in a small town as Bea Parker tries to understand why she's the last girl in her class to reach puberty, why her world seems so small, and who her real parents are after she discovers paperwork in her "aunt's" closet which indicate that Bea was left there as a baby by someone not actually related to them. The sudden and unexpected delivery of a high tech device in her bedroom only further complicates her life, throwing her together with the class jerk/nerd as they try to figure out what this object is and what it has to do with Bea. Interspersed in this narrative is the story of the alien man who was charged with protecting Bayatrice as a baby and had to leave her behind when he was discovered by the opposition. 

Bea interests me, but she didn't start to interest me until two-thirds of the way through the book. Before that point, she is a stubborn teenager with little interest in actually making friends with Calvin, the geek who is mean because people pick on him and he's had enough of it (I identify strongly with Calvin, personally). She only wants to be around him because he might help her figure out the alien technology and he only agrees to look at it with her because it's nothing like anything he's ever seen before. 

This novel was horribly slow to get started and the interesting parts didn't start to really pop until late in the story. Character development felt clumsy and forced (suddenly, Bea is a good person! and there's romance! and things are going to be okay!) and while Bea has greatness thrust upon her, her sudden outpouring of grace under pressure really has very little to do with anything she might have learned earlier in the novel. I'm hoping for more books in the series where we might get to explore the character of Bea and Calvin, especially now that we no longer have the overarching "spoiler" that Bea is really a queen. 

Tip for authors: don't make your main plot point part of the title. It kind of kills the suspense. Also? She barely leaves the planet for most of the book. She has one off-world adventure. This would have been a better title for a series rather than a single book.