Eleven year old Bell is one of the younger kids on the Mars station, and like all the others, he has no memory of earth. Life is full of on-line school, chores like emptying the dust filters, and apprenticeships with the adults to learn how to make the algae farm work or how to drive the rovers. Several other countries have Mars bases and Bell knows that the never-used underground train would connect to them, but the adults are tight-lipped about what caused the United States group to break off all contact.

When a mysterious illness strikes down all the adults on the station but spares the kids at the same time that supplies are dwindling between resupply missions, Bell is sent off to beg for help from the international neighbors he has never met. Adults from all the other stations rally to foster the kids and nurse the adults back to health, and eventually, reconciliation. Dealing with isolation and illness will especially resonate with 2020 readers.

The premise of the book captures your imagination ---what would it be like to be a kid living on Mars. While that premise gets your attention, this book ends up being so much more as the characters learn about owning your talents and the importance of friendship.

In 2091, Bell has always lived on Mars, so it is the only home he knows. He has heard tales of Earth from some of the adults in the US settlement, especially from the gardener, Phinneus, who is in charge of the algae farm and takes care of the only remaining cat, Leo. All of the children were orphans who were brought up by members of the other country's settlements, but after the death of one of the US settlers, all contact was cut off with the other countries. While the older children want less and less to do with Bell as they become obnoxious teenagers, he still hangs out with Phinneus, Salty Bill the cook, and Meems, who oversees the children's chores and learning. When the adults become seriously ill, the children try to cope on their own, but when help from Earth won't come for months, they eventually try to reach the other settlements. They try to use the long abandoned train system and run into some problems, but Bell manages to get help. The children stay at the French settlement while adults from the Russian, Chinese, and other settlements take care of the sick adults and make repairs to the US settlement. Bell enjoys the new food and the companionship of children his own age. There is even a baby and a ping pong table, which are welcome distractions. When the commander, Sai, is well enough, the children return home, and Bell is distraught when Sai says that they must cease all contact with the other nations, since things between them are not going well on earth. This saddens all of the settlers, and they find a way to contact the other communities. Will Bell be able to help Sai understand what happened so his world is larger than one tiny space station?
Strengths: I love Holm's work, and am so glad to see her returning to novels again. Babymouse is great, but I enjoyed Boston Jane (2001) and The Creek (2003) and think she does an excellent job at all manner of genres. Clearly, science fiction (like the 2014 The Fourteenth Goldfish) is something about which she is passionate, and I would love to see more titles like this one. The details of living on Mars are vividly well-researched, and the emotions of living on a planet far from Earth are equally well explored. As I was reading this, I felt like it could have been an episode of Star Trek, which is great praise indeed! The message about getting along with other countries and not being isolated works on a practical level, from Bell's perspective, but is also allegorical enough that teachers will love to use this for class read alouds. In fact, this would be an excellent choice for the Newbery Award. Science fiction doesn't often win.
Weaknesses: I could have used a little more description of the actual US space station. I had trouble picturing in my mind where Bell hung out. Not essential to the story, but after reading several other books set on Mars, I was curious to see what Holm's take on the facilities would be.
What I really think: Definitely purchasing, and recommending to fans of Rodkey's We're Not from Here, Swiedler's In the Red, Sylvester's MINRS, Landers' Blastaway, Levy's Seventh Grade vs. The Galaxy and Buzz Aldrin's fantastic nonfiction book, Welcome to Mars. I'm so glad to see a growing list of books covering what it would be like to live on another planet.

Bell's world is small, just the American settlement on Mars, a handful of grown-ups and kids, of which he is the youngest. He is curious about Earth and the world he will never know. He also doesn't understand why the other countries' Mars settlements are off-limits. When tragedy strikes his settlement (ironically a deadly respiratory virus), Bell breaks the rules and reaches out for help. Along the way he learns a lot about friendship and forgiveness. This was a fantastic science fiction novel, with great details about surviving on Mars as well as with others. Highly recommended for grades 4 & up.

. I thoroughly enjoyed this middle grade science fiction story where we get to know Bell, an 11-year-old who lives in the American settlement on Mars. Bell, the other kids, and the few adults who inhabit the settlement face obstacles such as dust storms and (eerily timely) a devastating virus. Neither of those obstacles is as dangerous as the isolation that Sai, the commander, has insisted upon. Bell and his friends grow up thinking that the inhabitants of the other countries’ settlements are dangerous and responsible for the death of a beloved member of the American team. There is something for everyone in this book: sci-fi technology, humor, romance, danger, and friendship. I can’t wait to give this to our young patrons.

Welcome to Mars! If you have ever imagined what a world on Mars might look like read this book. Told from the view of Bell, one of the children of the settlement, you will explore what it means to be a family and how humanity might respond to living in Mars with other countries. Perfectly entertaining and good for your mind and heart!!!

Holm’s first foray into sci-fi is a rousing success.
It is a spartan existence, with many of the colony’s needs met by the algae they grow, enlivened by the few books they have showing the planet their parents left permanently behind. Bell is believably unfamiliar with life on earth- cultural references that the reader will recognize- and hesitatingly adventurous enough to break the rules to save his community. Strong message of cooperation, trust and open communication as essential to creating bonds between people from different backgrounds.

This seems to be such an accidentally timely story. I have loved the quirkiness of Jennifer Holm for a while and was interested to see what she would do with Science Fiction. She was able to create a world that was futuristic enough, but still believable that this is where we could be in 70 years.
This is the story of an American Mars colony that is very much alone and isolated. As the story unfolds we see how they relate (or don’t relate) to the other colonies and how they are influenced by a distant Earth leadership. We see the strength of the human spirit and the necessity to wonder and explore through the eyes and actions of the children – and Jennifer Holm writes amazing teenagers. It is a really good look at how to weigh self-sufficiency against the need to collaborate; and to find out what makes everything better for the collective whole. It also is a great reminder of how our similarities and our differences complement each other and that asking for help is not a weakness, but a strength. Especially when an unknown virus hits.
I do think there will be elements of this story that will stick with me. I’m a little bit haunted by the arrogance of the American colony being “right” and the other colonies cast as enemies, and it is just kind of accepted – until the children shake things up. We really have a lot to learn from kids about what makes a pride work.