freedom
survival
friendship
change (personal and social)
relationships
exploitation
power and authority
reality
perception
The Characters
The main characters are;
- Joella – early teens, young girl who is narrator of the story – events seen through her eyes
- Liane – Joella’s younger sister, has puppet named Bro Rabbit (that also becomes a character himself as the novel evolves)
- Peter – Joella’s older brother, golden child in that he is talented and seems able to do anything and survive anything
- The Peb – characters in the Galax-Arena, children that have been kildapped and taken from all over the world to perform here – including: Leeward, Allyman, Ashmaq, Mariam, Istar, Fenja, Eduardo and Presh
- Those in Power – Hythe – who kidnaps the children and takes them to the Galax-Arena and is then their trainer and forces them to perform
- The Vexa – the ‘creatures’ who the Peb perform for, they are unmasked thwards the end of the novel as not being what they appear to be.
The Story
Three children (Joella, Peter and Liane) are kidnapped by a man named Hythe. Peter and Liane are very gifted performers in the area of gymnastics. Joella is only average. Hythe takes tham to a place called the Galax-Arena. They are told that they have been transported to another planet and if they try to leave they will die. They are said to be on a planet called Vetak which is inhabited by a race called the Vexa. This planet is said to be on the other side of the galaxy. The Galax-Arena is a place where human children perform dangerous, exciting and often life-threatening gymnastic feats which the inhabitants of the planet watch. The children in this ‘circus’ have become known as the Peb. They have created their own kind of language to communicate with each other because they were stolen from all over the world.
Due to the fact Joella is not entertaining as a performer, she becomes a ‘pet’ for one of the Vexa instead. She is treated like an animal and locked in an artificial room for her owner to watch her. Her brother and sister do become performers because of their talents and Peter even assumes power over the Peb as the story unfolds. Liane has a toy, a rabbit puppet, that is named Bro Rabbit. As the story unfolds, this unlikely character also assumes a power over the group as he seems to become for them a source of truth and wisdom.
Joella discovers many shocking truths about her new life and how deceptive her captors have been in order to keep her and the rest of the Peb under control and doing what they want them to do. The twist in this novel is something nobody can predict. Lies, deception and death can only be overcome by one thing – escape.
Chapter 1
1. Why might someone change their name? 2. ‘in all the rental places and motel rooms’ – What does this tell you about their lifestyle? Why would they move around so much? 3. What unanswered questions do we have when we get to the end of this chapter? 4. What is your first impression of Joella? Does she seem like a reliable source? Why/Why not?
Chapter 2
1. How would you describe Hythe’s personality and attitude towards the children in this chapter? 2. What does Joella think of him? Does she trust him? 3. What did Joella see on p10 that surprises her? 4. Define : kidnapped, module, cluster, disbelief 5. How did Liane feel on p 12? 6. How were the children already ‘turning into animals’? 7. How would you have felt if this had happened to you?
Chapter 3
1. Why do you think Joella could only remember what happened in ‘fragments’? 2. Describe what she remembered. 3. Why did Joella shiver on p 15? 4. Define : astronomy, erratic, sync, endearing, haunt 5. Who are the Vexa? 6. Why does Liane smile? (p21) 7. Imagine you were stranded in a strange land. You do not want to be there. What would be the first 5 things you would do?
Chapter 4
1. Put the following events in the order in which they happened;
- Joella was shaking from Hythe’s punishment
- Joella thought she was going to be hit
- Leeward said Allyman and Peter could work together
- The children took off their traveling clothes
- Hythe took the children to the Gymna
- Joella felt as though she were ‘falling out of control’
- Joella says the Gymna was a rehersal area
2. Define : elegant, complex, appreciation, tense, identical
3. If you were in the circus, what would your act be? Why would you choose to do this? Draw a picture of yourself performing this act.
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