This is really Not For Me, but for our teens who are looking for sports stuff and might also like sci-fi this will definitely work. There was so much sportsball. So Much. I didn't finish this one, but read the beginning, a chunk in the middle, and the end. There's a good blend of mystery, betrayal, and sports with plenty of action. It reminded me a little of [b: Zeroboxer|20320562|Zeroboxer|Fonda Lee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1417959263l/20320562._SY75_.jpg|28161618], but honestly I enjoyed that one quite a bit more. It could be that football is really not my thing. I did see a review that compared this to Real Steel, which is fairly spot on. I booktalked it just after the Super Bowl which also made it an easy sell.

In the future, Earth has been destroyed and humans now inhabit the moon. Separated into colonies, it is the sport, Ultraball, similar to American football, that determines a colony's fate. Teens, Strike and his Ultraball team, the Taiko Miners, must defeat the unbeatable North Pole Neutrons and win the Ultrabowl to secure oxygen for their colony. If they loose, they and their families and friends will die a slow death due to oxygen deprivation.

Author Jeff Chen puts a new face on a well-known plot-- a sports team that has everything on the line must win the big game or something bad will happen. Chen varies the plot by adding elements of science fiction and by making the end event about the death of an entire colony of people. While the plot is predictable, the added elements of fantasy and a female Ultraballer refresh the plot enough to make it palatable for a new generation. Tweens who enjoy sports books and fantasy titles may enjoy this mix. There are enough details about Ultraball plays, positions and teammate drama to make sports fans happy. Bathroom humor and horseplay will appeal to older readers who have graduated from Captain Underpants. Moon colonies, space survival and robotic Ultraball uniforms will interest those science fiction fans.
Chen's detailed writing style brings the reader into the physical environments of the moon colonies, the mental exhaustion and desperation of the humans exisiting in the poorer colonies and the currupt and dangerous minds of the Governors jockeying for pieces of an unsustainable existence.

Recommended for readers ages 10 and up. ( )