The Captain’s Daughters by Doreen D. Berger is a charming middle-grade sci-fi that follows two twelve-year-old girls on their (mis)adventures aboard their adoptive father, Captain William Marsh’s, starship. This book absolutely reads like the Star Trek: Enterprise meets middle-grade adventure, and it’s a lot of fun.

The girls, Robin and Diane, both read like authentic MG characters with big personalities that manage to get themselves into and out of trouble on a regular basis. Their love of geology, horses, exploration, and independence are all aspects I would definitely have been able to connect to as a young reader. And honestly, who wouldn’t want to live aboard the Polaris and explore new worlds?

Captain Marsh definitely gets the *cool but firm* Dad award, and it was sweet to see his dedication and love for the girls through his POV. And the plot of a kidnapping gone wrong into a parallel universe was a cool twist that I really enjoyed.

The writing flows super easily and is well-suited to the MG crowd or even confident chapter-book readers. My only real critique, is there are quite of lot of flashbacks throughout the POVs showcasing the relationships between the interstellar family, which weren’t really my cup of tea, but that’s totally just my subjective opinion.

Themes of adventure, consequences, and the bonds of family are strong here, and I think this would be a fun sweet read for any middle grade sci-fi fan (ESPECIALLY for Star Trek fans.) Thanks so much to the publisher for the free ARC!

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Thanks for reading!