Akiko: Pieces of Gax by Mark Crilley

Akiko has come a long way from when she was an 11 year old going after Alia Relapor; now she's two years older and has undergone training from the Training Masters and become a cadet in the Galactic Police. But when her friends Mr. Beeba, Spuckler Boach, his robot Gax and their Trooglian friend Poog show up at her aunt's house, she is surprised to see them.

They have come to take her on a pleasure trip to the city of Gollarondo on the planet Smoo. Gollarondo is a city built entirely upside down, but nobody knows why, since asking the natives of Gollarondo is forbidden, and they never talk about it themselves. In fact, the Gollarondians believe theirs is the only city built right-side up, and that everyone else has built upside-down.

However, when Gax falls through one of Gollarondo's crumbling balconies in an attempt to save Akiko from falling to the same fate, he lands in the Moonguzzit Sea and automatically becomes the property of Nugg Von Hofflehiff through an agreement with Gollarondo and Smoo itself. Spuckler attempts to rescue his friend, but Hofflehiff's forces catch them and assert his claim to Gax. In attempting to reclaim Gax, Akiko and her friends wind up being charged with theft from Von Hofflehiff!

But in the court with Von Hofflehiff as the judge, they manage to win their case. Unfortunately, Gax has already been broken up for parts and sold to three different buyers! To get Gax's robot brain back his body parts, they will have to find the buyers and convince them to return Gax's parts. Little do they know, though, that this will be much harder than it sounds.

Gax's neck was sold to a woman named Wimmaneen Slarf as a toy for her pet, one that grows larger and fiercer the angrier it gets. And taking away its toy? Makes it very, very angry! His body was sold to a scientist named Eckston B. Gridstump, who went to school with Mr. Beeba and now studies "very nearly extinct" volcanoes. But the scientist seems to have a grudge against Mr. Beeba. Can Akiko save him before Dr. Gridstump makes Mr. Beeba *extremely* extinct? And Gax's wheels were sold to another Gax unit, this one of the third generation to Gax's tenth. But when the kindly old robot turns out to be far less kindly than it seems, can Akiko defeat it and save the day, not to mention Gax's wheels... and the rest of him?

Akiko continues her best-selling adventures on the Planet Smoo. In this book, she is promised a restful vacation, but as usual, it turns out to be anything but. Akiko is a bit older here, but her fans will continue to enjoy her continuing adventures and the crazy people she meets on Smoo. This one has everything that Akiko fans enjoy: endless arguing between Spuckler and Mr. Beeba, strange people and creatures, and a fantastic new location to enjoy.

Akiko is still the peacemaker between her friends, but she's become a bit more proactive and is still the one that ends up saving the day *and* her friends. This one is more like three mini-adventures in one, but it's all good and enjoyable. Parents will definitely want their kids to get to know Akiko, and maybe they'll read her adventures as well. Silly, but enjoyable.