Star Striker is a series about thirteen-year-old Albert Kinney who is abducted by aliens to play in a high-stakes interplanetary sports tournament. Best for ages 10-12. Themes: cooperation vs competition, social and emotional learning, mindfulness, compassion, and social justice.
- Book One: Game On! (Holiday House, 2021; ISNB 978-0-8234-4911-8)
- Book Two: Touch and Go (Holiday House, 2022; ISNB 978-0-8234-4912-5)
- Book Three: The Final Goal (Holiday House, 2023; ISBN 978-0-8234-4913-2)
Series Resources
Wisdom Quotes from Star Striker
Find 20 downloadable inspirational quotes about teamwork, cooperation, and connection here.
Teaching Guide, Bookmark, and Audio Pronunciation Guide
- Game On! Educator’s Guide: Two page format with discussion questions for grades 3-7.
- Free Downloadable Series Bookmark
- Audio Pronunciation Guide to Star Striker Words, Names, and Places
Examples of Revision for Teachers to Use in Classroom
- Revising to Add Detail: Revision Example from Game On to use in teaching.
- Revising to Add Excitement: Revision Example from Game On to use in teaching.
- Revising to Develop Character: Revision Example from Game On to use in teaching.
Author Interviews and Essays
- Mary Amato on “The Appeal of the Mentor Archetype” in The Star Striker Series coming from SLJ’s Teen Librarian Toolbox this November.
- Mary Amato on “Character Entrances” in fiction plus free excerpt of Game On opening.
- Opportunities Instead of Opponents: An essay on competition in Game On for Teen Librarian Toolbox.
- Author Interview for Baker & Taylor.
- Author Interview with Deborah Kalb.
- Kidlit TV Interview
Resources on SEL, Emotional Intelligence, Mindfulness, Self Compassion
- In this series, Albert learns how to acknowledge his emotions–everything from jealousy to self-loathing. The following are resources for further exploration.
- Kristin Neff’s site and self-compassion workbooks on self-compassion.org.
- Marc Brackett’s systematic approach to SEL called RULER at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.
- Jeff Warren’s highly accessible teaching on meditation.
Reviews
- “Readers will instantly connect with Albert and his struggles at home, school, and with the sport he loves.”—Kirkus Reviews
- “This first book in a forthcoming intergalactic sports series will surely please science fiction readers. The writing is descriptive and elaborate without being burdensome. The characters are relatable and well developed with relationship issues and familiar family dynamics.”—School Library Journal
Summaries
Book One: GAME ON!
Albert Kinney, a 13-year-old soccer player, assumes the worst when he is abducted by aliens from planet Zeeno. So, he’s shocked when the Zeenods recruit him to play their solar system’s version of soccer, called johka, and ask him to compete in an Olympics-level interplanetary tournament. Yet just as he is introduced to the high-tech gear and the dangerous eruptions of strange liquid that occur during play on the johka field, he faces a series of direct threats to his life. Does someone have a mysterious vendetta against Albert? Or does their first opponent, the ruthless team from Planet Tev, want to guarantee that they win? It’s even worse. As Albert grows to love the Zeenods, he learns that the aggressive Tevs want to wipe out the entire Zeeno culture and gain complete control over the remarkable planet.
To survive the ordinary social and emotional challenges of middle-school life as well as the extraordinary physical challenges of a johka competition would be hard enough, but Albert wants much more than that. He wants to help return Zeeno to the Zeenods before it’s too late. Action-packed, yet filled with humor and heart, Star Striker is the first in a series exploring the transforming and luminous power that occurs when individuals from vastly different worlds learn how to truly unite.
Book Two: Touch and Go!
Albert and the Zeenods are back in this second book in the thrilling Star Striker series about unlikely friendships and interstellar soccer.
Albert and his Zeenod teammates might not be the best soccer players in the universe but there’s nothing Albert would rather do–and no one he’d rather play with. Plus at least they made it to the second round of the big interplanetary tournament.
When their coach is wrongly arrested by an intergalatic police force, Albert and the Zeenods must work to clear their coach’s name and stay in the tournament. But Albert can’t keep his head in the game, putting the whole team’s win in jeopardy. Can Albert come through for his friends and find justice for their coach?
Action-packed, yet filled with humor and heart, Star Striker is the second book in a series that combines a sports friendship story with an exploration of social justice and the importance of compassion for others.
Book Three: The Final Goal
In this thrilling conclusion to the Star Striker series, Albert and his team face the final round of the interplanetary soccer tournament—but with the Zeenods’ freedom on the line, it’s no game.
As Albert and the Zeenods prepare for their final games in the interplanetary soccer tournament, Albert knows he should feel like he’s already won. He loves soccer, and he and his teammates have survived constant danger. But instead, it’s more like the ground is falling out from under him—literally.
In order to win, Albert must face his fear of drowning when he learns the game takes place on a hostile planet where fissures split the field wide open. But in order to expose the Tev’s war crimes, he’ll have to take on trouble much deeper than any underground river . . . all with Zeenod enemies still trying to kill him.
Will Albert and his friends be able to land a score against a team—and empire—that has taken everything from them? Or will everyone he cares about wind up the biggest losers in the galaxy?
Action-packed, yet filled with humor and heart, the final book of Mary Amato’s Star Striker series combines a sci-fi sports story with powerful social justice themes for a satisfying, high-stakes conclusion.