Venus Boy

The first child born on another world should have had a childhood filled with wonder. Instead, Johnny Watson was the only kid on all of Venus, surrounded by alien jungles and the adult concerns of the colony called New Plymouth. That loneliness ended the day Baba emerged from the Venusian wilderness - a jewel bear with claws that could cut through anything, a creature no Earth-born person had ever seen. Baba became Johnny's best friend, his secret-keeper, his only companion in a world that wanted the bear dead. When a ship arrives from Earth, Johnny faces an impossible choice: keep Baba hidden as he always has, or risk everything for the creature he loves. The jewel bear is worth a fortune to the wrong hands, and hunters have come to Venus with weapons that could destroy the entire colony. Johnny's three secrets - each one a ticking clock - will either save New Plymouth or get everyone he loves killed. Mid-century sci-fi at its most earnest and charming, Venus Boy captures something timeless about the bond between a child and their impossible pet, and what it means to be brave when you're too small to fight but too stubborn to give up.