Ender's Shadow, by Orson Scott Card

"Ender's Shadow," by Orson Scott Card, is one of my all time favorite books. As a war is about to break out in outer space against an alien race a child living on the mean streets of Rotterdam with fights his own war with ruthless gangs of starving kids that wouldn't hesitate to kill. Bean, the main character, has learned to survive not with his fists, but with his brains. Bean, only a year old when put on the streets and still only four years old, is close to deaths door and much too small for his age to everpower anyone for food. He persuades Poke, a crew leader, to give him food and let him join by giving her a strategy that will get them all more food. The plan was that they'll all work together to overpower a slightly older bully and force him to become their muscleman. It all goes terribly wrong when Poke, thinking he would be an easier target because of his gimp leg,, pick Achilles, to beat down. He later kills Poke, which devastates Bean, thinking he could have stopped it. He'll do anything to get away from Achilles, so when Sister Carlotta, a nun working for the I.F., comes looking for a new student to send to battle school, Bean takes his chance. Bean is the smartest person to ever enter battle school, and also the youngest. Throughout the story, Bean continues to prove himself, and is always a few steps ahead of everyone else. As the battle against the Buggers gets closer, only the best would be taken to fight. What will Bean's roll be in this historic event? This story is Bean's perspective of "Ender's Game," and is wonderfully written. -Reviewed by M.P., grade 9.