Vicki C. Hayes

Vicki C. Hayes writes accessible fiction for developing readers, pairing age-appropriate characters with fast-moving genre plots. Sky Watchers follows sixth graders Dez and Jax after they qualify to patrol the sky path to school on flying bikes. Their job is to protect other students from programmed disks called spinners, which steal bike packs and carry them below the tree line into a polluted world. The adventure joins science-fiction technology with questions of teamwork, courage, and environmental responsibility. Saddleback Educational Publishing first issued Sky Watchers in its Red Rhino line in 2014 and released a later ebook edition in 2023. Publisher and library records describe the book as a hi-lo chapter novel, designed to offer mature-interest storytelling with controlled reading demands for upper-elementary students and other developing readers. Hayes keeps the invented setting easy to grasp through concrete goals and hazards, allowing Dez and Jax's decisions to carry the story while the damaged environment remains a meaningful part of their world.