Teen Space Operas to Celebrate the Perseid Meteor Shower

This summer, if you want to look up and see something amazing, make sure to set a reminder for the Perseid meteor shower. This year it's expected to be at its brightest on August 12th and 13th. If watching all those shooting stars puts you in the mood to explore the galaxy, you need a book that will take you far away from home. Here are a few that might do the trick.

Once & Future is the perfect combination of sci-fi and fantasy. It's a retelling of the King Arthur story, set far in the future after humans have left behind a destroyed Earth to colonize the stars. Ari is on the run from the corporation that runs much of her dystopian world when she crash lands on the ravaged planet that humans used to call home. Not realizing the significance she pulls a sword from a stone, changing her life and the fate of humanity forever.

If you like books with weird formatting Illuminae should absolutely be your next read. Instead of being told as a traditional novel, it's written as a collection of found documents. Interviews, emails, maps, government documents, and many other snippets of the characters' lives slowly fill in the details of their world. Kady and Ezra live on a planet where nothing interesting ever happens. At least that was true until it was invaded. So now they have to work together to stay alive, which is a little awkward considering they literally just broke up.

Defy the Stars is the first book in a series that's the perfect combination of fast-paced action and romance. Noemi and Abel are on opposite sides of a deadly intergalactic war, which makes them natural enemies. But, because the universe is funny like that, they end up having to work together to save themselves and hopefully put an end to the fighting. Oh and one other little detail. Abel's not human. He's an android. So when he starts to get feelings for her, it makes them both question everything.

What are some of your favorite YA books set in space?