IF YOU WERE ME AND LIVED ON MARS

IF YOU WERE I AND LIVED ON MARS: CAROLE P. ROMAN and ILLUSTRATED BY MARTEYA ARKOVA

Fast forward to the year 2054 and imagine living in the future but not on Earth. What would you do if you and your family decided to move to Mars and now you would be considered a Martian? The adventure begins on a spaceship with your parents and traveling part of your trip would last six moths. You need to take tons of games to play and lots of other things to keep busy. Your parents are preparing for this journey and tell you that you would be staying on Mars for three years. You could not return to Earth for the planets have to realign for a quick and safe journey home. The entire expedition would take three years.

The author describes Mars and where Mars got its name after a Roman god of war probably because of its red color. It is also called the Red Planet. The planet’s air is filled with carbon monoxide so you will have to be careful not to breathe in the air. You will have to wear a special suit to go outside. I bet you don’t know that Mars and Earth believe it or not are 250 million miles apart at their furthest point. The Earth and Mars have almost the same amount of land but the Earths if bigger. Oceans take much of our surface up. You would live in something called Mars Living Module. Scientists have experimented on Earth’s hardest deserts to see how these materials would hold up on Mars. So,what are you going to do without restaurants, deli’s, stores, trees, or any form of transport. Sorry, no local malls. The air for living is breathable inside the units but outside you will have to be careful. Check out the great illustrations as you take the journey along with this family to Mars and see Mars from your own eyes and experience what they are at the same time. On page 14 some facts: the air pressure is too thin to breathe: it has too much CO2 and too little oxygen: Extreme temperatures can change quickly and without warning.

You landed on Mars and moved into you newly constructed home. Now what? You look for the sun in the sky and wait until you see that it looks like half the size because of the strangely shaped orbit of Mars. Even more facts on page 16 and we learn about Phobos and Deimos the two moons when you read pages 16 and 17 where the author shares the scientific facts about each moon and how they both got their names and where they are in the solar system. I know we all love the summer and spring but on Mars when you first land the on the southern hemisphere you would have a short and hot summer. This part of Mars faces the sun during the summer. If you happen to land in the northern hemisphere you would expect a cold winter. If you want to learn about spring and more read page 20 and check out the kids enjoying some summer fun on page 21. Author Carole P. Roman goes into detail about safety rules, time frames on Mars, frost that develops overnight on the read rocks and how the sun’s warmth burns it off and many more facts are shared. But, remember you have to wear you spacesuit to go outside and beware of the dangerous dust storms. Dad is a scientist and mom is a doctor caring for everyone on Mars. How cool is that!

The author defines gravity and how it applies to Mars as compared to earth. Check out the basketball game on Mars. Visitors to Mars would come to see Olympus Mon, the highest mountain on Mars. Warnings would have to be heeded as there is a volcano there and you never know when it will erupt. Finally, your parents would warn you again about the dangerous dust storms and the harm it can do to electrical equipment interfering with solar powered instruments. Flashing back to the ancient civilization on Mars the author outlines the surfaces called channels and canals. The rest you get to uncover and unlock for yourself on page 35. If you were me would you like to live on Mars? Remember you won’t come home for three years and your whole way of life will not be the same. Check out the rest of the illustrations, join the family on their journey to Mars and learn how to read and pronounce the words in the guide at the end of the book along with the definitions of words that will help guide you to understand more about Mars. So, once again author Carole P. Roman takes us to a different place that many people just might venture to in the future. Ready for your trip to the Red Planet? Would you want to go?

Fran Lewis: Just reviews/MJ magazine