FOREWORD: UNIVERSAL CATALOG

Max lives a very solitary life for a kid in a penthouse on Mars, and all they've ever wanted is to see Earth. And maybe to see their family more too. They at least get one of those things the summer after they turn sixteen, but spending the next few months on Venus with their aunt, uncle, and beloved cousin comes with a price; their parents are getting divorced. Not that it matters to them. It really shouldn't matter to them. It DOESN'T matter to them. The summer's already started off a little rocky, and it only gets more confusing from there when Max arrives on Venus to discover that their extended family has taken in two aliens the same age as themself and their cousin, and suddenly, Max doesn't fit in. Not that they aren't used to that. They really SHOULD be used to that. Somehow, they still aren't. As Max struggles to convince their cousin's new friends that they're more accepting than most humans, something strange starts happening in the little Venusian city, something that leads to Max and this ragtag group of strangers - that they're beginning to consider their family - going on an extraordinary adventure, learning the truth about many untold secrets, and possibly even uncovering an ancient intergalactic war...