Jump Boys: SOS by Alex Banks

Jump Boys:  SOS  is for young readers and has a little mystery and some space adventure.  Twin brothers Jayce and Val are thirteen, and aside from the fact that they are part of a space colony orbiting Jupiter, they are typical youngsters.

On their way to school, they note the early morning commute which includes "lancers, cruisers and tiny one-seater cyclepods".  Have to wonder just exactly what a "cyclepod" looks like.  The boys and their parents live in the most privileged area of Jupiter Prime, and their father is a respected member of a department studying the multiverse and trying to discover a way back to earth.

When their unpleasant cousin dares the twins to jump to another multiverse, the boys decide to try.  When the jump goes wrong, Jayce and Val find themselves rescuing a little girl from a post-apocalyptic planet,  fighting off dangerous space pirates, and forced to rescue their father when he is captured trying to rescue them.  Got it?

The slang was amusing and fitting for space teens, but perhaps a bit overdone.  Or maybe not, adolescent boys will probably find the slang totally "molten."  

It is a bit on the slight side, but the boys and their parents provide good examples, and good conquers evil with a lot of dash.  I wish Davis had had a larger role, but if this novel is the beginning of a series, she will certainly continue to make her presence known.

Alex Banks is a pseudonym for YA author Ali Cross, who has written a number of novels for a slightly older audience.  Jump Boys appears to written for a  younger, middle school audience.

NetGalley/All Night Reads.

Science Fiction.  2013.  Print Length:  156 pages.