Mars goes to, well, Mars! Full disclaimer, I didn't read book 1. But I could pick up the story pretty well. Mars is searching for his friend Aurora and connects with Julia and Orion on the way to the colony. He's worried about his friends left behind and his mom. When the group crass lands near the colony they find themselves in the middle of a struggle between the Martians (really separatist colonists) and the kids in the colony. ( )

In full disclosure, I had not read the first book of the series when I received this from early reviewers. It took some time to catch up on the characters and relationships but as a credit to the author, enough background was provided throughout the text to make sense of it and get excited about the developments. Perhaps the somewhat slower start was the reason that I could get into this books as it was not overwhelming to start.

Lots of science, space, and action. It is more than enough, once it gets going, to keep a younger reader engaged and active. While the transitions might suffer for the pacing of the plot, it can be forgiven and covered by the playfulness of the dialogue and the charismatic characters. The book is definitely part of a larger story arc so there set-ups and lack of payoffs but that is well constructed on the part of Chari to keep readers coming back for more. ( )

There are some aspects of this middle grade SciFi that I love but it is lacking in some background to make the story gripping. The action begins right away. Mars is on a flight to Mars (I really wish the author had picked another name) and the flight is not going smoothly. He is going to Mars to find his missing friend, Aurora (I would have liked to know more about their Earth relationship). The colonizers are not helpful in Mars' quest. Some of the relationships could have been better developed (on the spaceship in particular). It would have improved the story. I enjoyed the character development of Oliver Pruitt. I believe we have a few Olivers here on Earth now. The book is action-packed and thought-provoking. ( )

Mars travels to Mars. There he faces rebels, exploding space station and a volcanic eruption. He finds out why Oliver Pruitt is so interested in him.

You do need to read the prior book to appreciate what is going on. ( )

I got this book through the Early Review program and I read it without having read the first book in the series first. Despite that, I really enjoyed the story. It has an interesting premise and a quick pace. I think kids would really enjoy this, particularly kids who have dreams of space.

This book series is based on a podcast, but I haven't listened to the podcast. Yet.

I will definitely be purchasing this series for the 4th and 5th graders in my school library.

*** This book is from the LibraryThing Early Review program, but all opinions are my own. *** ( )