Nyxia

Nyxia is the first book in a trilogy about Emmett Atwater, a teen from Detroit who is one of several teens chosen by the Babel Corporation to travel on a giant spacecraft to a newly discovered planet, Eden, to mine the mysterious substance nyxia. Nyxia has strange properties and can be controlled to take many different forms. Unfortunately, there are already beings living on Eden, and early interactions between humans and these Adamites haven’t gone well. Emmett and his teen compatriots are made to compete with each other in pretty brutal competitions to train them and determine who will actually get to go to Eden. If he can make it, he’ll earn enough money to help his family back on Earth. It’s basically Hunger Games in space!

Recommended for 7th and 8th grade because of violence and reading level, but could be read by all grades