Val Vega: Secret Ambassador of Earth (ePub)

Val Vega figured that in her junior year of high school, all she'd have to worry about was getting a decent score on the SATs, captaining the softball team, and figuring out her unrequited crush on her cute nonbinary bestie. Then Val discovers a family secret she never expected: her tío Umberto is Earth's ambassador to an interstellar council of planets, and his unexpected death installs Val as his successor.

Two Galactic empires are on the brink of war, and only Val can salvage interstellar peace. She has to hammer out treaties with giant jellyfish-shaped aliens that float like zeppelins, gets abducted by underground insurgents, and has to navigate the divisions of a colonized planet where telepathy puts every thought and every conflict out in the open. Her impossible task is even harder since Earth is known across the Galaxy as a violent, self-destructive backwater planet with intolerable humidity. Worse, she learns her uncle's death was no accident - he was assassinated, and the prime suspects are the three aliens Val trusted as her uncle's allies.

Out of her depth and with the weight of two worlds on her shoulders, Val must solve her uncle's murder and bring peace to the Galaxy-all while helping her grieving family, managing the dramas of her friends, and getting a passing grade in trig.

PRAISE FOR VAL VEGA: SECRET AMBASSADOR OF EARTH

"Francisco presents a thrilling coming-of-age SF story that not only explores the precariousness of colonialism and sectarian conflict, but also the complexities of identity and relationships. Val is a smart, resourceful, and highly empathic protagonist, and her arc as an intergalactic diplomat is compelling. ... Readers will enjoy the author's sharp prose style and quippy dialogue, as well as their vast, imaginative worldbuilding. ... The cast of human characters is also realistically diverse: Val and her family are Puerto Rican and speak Spanish at home; she identifies as 'more sapiosexual than anything'; her crush, Will, is nonbinary; and Umberto is gay. A captivating, heartfelt tale about family, diplomacy, and finding one's place in the universe." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Francisco's writing is fast-paced and heartfelt, with diverse characters and a charming blend of politics, momentous space negotiations, and murder mystery-along with a crucial message that people can work through their differences without resorting to violence." - Booklife (Editor's Pick)

"Ben Francisco's much-anticipated debut novel, VAL VEGA: SECRET AMBASSADOR OF EARTH, is overflowing with creativity. With a heroine you can't help but fall in love with, inventive alien cultures that feel as real as the family next door, and a mystery that will keep you breathlessly turning the pages, you've never read anything like it." - Nicholas Kaufmann, bestselling author

"If interstellar peace is your dream and you love a diverse cast of fabulously weird and brilliant aliens; if you believe in the power of one good human to survive personal hardship and save our planet, and if your dream is to discover that this human hero happens to be a humble, witty and smart-as-hell Latinx teenager, then this is the book for you! Everyone else should read this book for the absolutely fun ride through a universe that will become so real you'll be quoting it." - M. M. De Voe, award-winning author