• Age: 13 to 18
• Grade: 8 to 12

It's taken 400 years of travel, but the starship Venture has finally arrived at its destination. Beta Earth is an uninhabited, untouched planet that seventeen-year-old engineer Ursa has to colonise with her crewmates.

The first night Ursa is on Beta Earth her world goes out of control when she encounters a dead body. She's positive she saw a large creature with sharp teeth, something that shouldn't even be on the planet, but nobody believes her. As injuries and bodies start piling up, Ursa must figure out who to trust when her fellow crewmates start taking sides between Venture's safety and the hope of creating a home on Beta Earth.

If Ursa and her people can't find out what's really going on in the forest, their already fragile society won't survive.

Kate Blair is a native of Hayling Island, UK, and is now a Canadian citizen living in Toronto. She is the author of Transferral and Tangled Planet. Transferral, her debut novel, was a finalist for the Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award and the Saskatchewan Young Readers Choice Snow Willow Award, and was a Starred Selection of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Best Books for Kids and Teens. It is currently being adapted for television. Tangled Planet was longlisted for the Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic.

Kate Blair's profile page

• Long-listed, Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic

In this well-plotted and suspenseful novel, Blair not only asks what if there were another planet to colonize but how do humans create anything new and improved when — even with limitless technology and genetic manipulation — they continue to make decisions based on past grievances and resentment, loss and jealousy.

Quill & Quire

"Four stars."

In writing science fiction, a key requirement is worldbuilding, the author's ability to create a believable fictional world, and, in this respect, Blair has done so with great skill... Science fiction fans will definitely enjoy joining Ursa aboard Venture and on Beta Earth.

CM Magazine

"Blair's world-building is exceptional, immersing readers in the juxtaposition of the exciting unknowns of Beta and the comforting protocols and societal structure on the Venture. Ursa is a fully developed, likable yet flawed character who will push teens to consider if comfort is a worthy sacrifice for the potential greatness of th unknown. A robust cast of secondary characters, each layered with their own motivations, histories, and perspectives, round out the novel and propel its fierce pace. VERDICT A must-have for every library." Starred Review

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