Twelve-year-old Bobby Baxter's not the bravest kid on Earth. His list of things that scare him is up to number 689 and includes lightning, crowds, spiders, alien abductions, crocodiles, falling from great heights, falling from small heights and eggs. So when he learns that he's the first Earthling ever chosen to attend the Galactic Space Academy, light years away from home, he's terrified - and that's before he discovers that someone at the academy wants the boy from Earth gone.