SOLVED. Kids sci-fi, characters were 'brats' as they had astronaut parents who moved around [s]

[Rae]

This was a book in my school library; read for the first time in probably 1998 or 1999. Two main characters, a boy and a girl, who were on an unexplored or forbidden planet. The cover was garish; red and purple. The creatures on this unexplored planet were threatening and, I believe, not humanoid. Any help would be appreciated! The kids were referred to as 'brats' as in military brats.

[Michele]

Do you know if the book was new at the time you read it? Were the kids alone on the planet, or had they just wandered off from the adults? Any recollection of what the native creatures looked like? How old were the boy and girl?

[Ingo]

I think it may be the Dragonfall 5-Series, 7 books which I really really like and bought just a few years ago used to read them in English (my first encounter was in German translation, as that is my first language).

Some are hard to get and/or expensive.
And, I just checked, no ebooks to find. I clicked the "want to read on Kindle"-Button though. And will do the same at Barnes&Nobles.

I cannot remember the kids being brats, though.
But one of the titles fits your description (Empty Planet or Haunted World).

Dragonfall 5 and the Space Cowboys


Dragonfall 5 And The Royal Beast


Dragonfall 5 And The Master Mind


Dragonfall 5 And The Empty Planet


Dragonfall 5 and the Super Horse


Dragonfall 5 And The Hijackers


Dragonfall Five And The Haunted World

[Ann aka Iftcan]

Ingo--the use of the term "Brats" as used by Rachel does not refer to the way that they act, rather to what they were--the off-spring of astronauts. In the U.S., the children of career military parents refer to themselves as "Navy Brat", "Army Brat", etc. Usually only half-jokingly, because a lot of times we (yes, I am one) were looked down on a bit by the "locals" wherever our parents were stationed. And, also usually, if something was being done that the locals disapproved of, they usually blamed us for it before even doing anything to see who was really to blame. And yes, I have been burned that way before--which I always felt was really a rotten thing to do, since 9 times out of 10 the culprits were NOT the military brats but rather the local brats who knew that their parents would automatically blame it on us. And the main reason that we were blamed--we weren't there long enough for the locals to get to know us. (I went to 14 different schools in 12 years.)

Er, ok, sorry, getting off my soapbox now.

[Michele]

::pets Anna soothingly::

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Then there are the brats....the bratwursts....they are the wurst brats.

[Ingo]

Re: Brats, yeah I should have known, but as I am not from the Military I am not too familiar with the term. What I can remember (should read the books again) that word was not used in any meaning in the book, but I may be wrong there.
Reading the first post again, it may be a different book, but sounds interesting, I look forward to finding out and might read it.

And don't put down my bratwurst, I am from Germany and like my food. Nice word play that would even work without translation in German, the same meaning (and a wurst is often fat).

[Rae]

Thanks for your guys' comments! Still haven't hit on the right book. I may try and go back to my elementary school in the fall and see if they'll let me look in the library - this is gonna bug me!

Michelle - I don't know if the book was new or not. The kids were alone on the planet, I think - they had maybe stolen a ship or the adults on it were incapacitated. I remember the native creatures as having tentacles but that's vague in my memory. The boy and the girl were early teens at the oldest.

[SparksofEmber]

Rae, are you still looking for this book?
Could it be the Space Brat series?
Were the boy & girl siblings?

[Rae]

Thank you! I remembered the book a little while ago - it was Spaceship Down !

[SparksofEmber]

Great! Could you move this topic to solved or does a moderator need to do it?

[Kris]

Thanks for the update, Rae. Glad you found your book!

I moved this request to a solved folder. Either the original poster (OP) or a moderator can do this.

[Rae]

Kris wrote: "Thanks for the update, Rae. Glad you found your book!

I moved this request to a solved folder. Either the original poster (OP) or a moderator can do this."
Thank you, Kris!