The Kids from Folden by K.R. Levin

About the book

The Kids from Folden, is a 56,000 word, science fiction novel geared toward the young adult/juvenile market.

The future of the Earth is not bright. In 2105, runaway pollution, deforestation and ultimately "The Bio-wars" have forced the populace of the planet to move into giant space stations orbiting the Earth.

During a routine space-bus ride back from a field trip to a space museum on another Orbit station, a group of seven youngsters (ages 13-14) and their bus driver, Garth, break down and become lost in the Junk Zone. They dock their wounded bus on one of the earliest space stations, now an abandoned wreck. They are able to resurrect the station's computer which they discover to be an entity of it's own with a female personality and holographic powers that calls itself "Rosie".

Suddenly, without warning Red Fargo, space scrapper, storms in demanding to know who's on her station and she tries to eject everyone. Red realizes Rosie's potential in helping her find things in the Junk Zone and prods her into finding a long forgotten wreck called, The Fletcher, which she does with ease.

Garth and Red fly through the junk zone and retrieve the needed part for the bus. On their way back, they find the forgotten wreck Rosie located and to their surprise it seems alive. Not able to resist, Red lands on the wreck and she and Garth become trapped inside as the kids watch from the space station. The kids realize that they must pull together, somehow jury rig the bus and go rescue them.

Red and Garth awake to find themselves tied up and held prisoner by a crazed and elderly Elsworth Fletcher who is responsible for making the Earth uninhabitable years ago. He has been kept prisoner for the last fifty years by the space patrol who sabotaged his ship. Fletcher now intends to seek revenge on all humanity using Red's ship.

The kids repair the bus with Rosie's help and head out to save Red and Garth. Fletcher steals Red's ship intending to release all the junk into the space lanes.

The kids rescue Garth and Red, and then begin to play cat and mouse as they chase Fletcher through the Junk Zone. Fletcher reaches the gravity buoy and destroys it. The junk starts to pour out of the breach and the bus has to maneuver around the flood of junk. Red's ship is hit by a huge piece of junk and sent hurtling into space with a screaming Fletcher on board begging to be saved. They rescue him and with Fletcher's journals they realize they can ultimately make the Earth right again. Red realizes with the kids and Rosie she has a family. Through her proxy program Rosie thanks them for bringing her back to life and giving her a family again.

They dock at Folden Station to cheering crowds and the open arms of their parents.

About the author

K.R. Levin, when not working in the Southern California Motion Picture Industry as a Production Designer or Property Master, can be found freelance writing. Originally from New York City, he has been earning money as a writer since 1996, mostly through magazine articles. Some of the publications he has been published in include: Metro Magazine, Stockbroker Magazine, Bankers Review and UFO Magazine. In addition, he has penned over a dozen short stories, 2 non-fiction business books and several screenplays. He is currently at work on his second novel Harmony in Speed, an aviation thriller. K.R. received a BA from Hampshire College in 1981 and is married with a young son. The Kids from Folden is his first novel.