Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

In this opening novel of an anticipated series, the action zooms in on Liam, a thirteen-year-old who has spent his life on Mars, a stop midway between Earth and the new planet citizens hope to terraform. People have been leaving for the new planet in massive ship after massive ship, and now there’s just one vessel left and 100 million passengers ready to get the heck off Mars. Liam’s got mixed feelings about leaving the planet that’s the only home he’s ever known, since even with a true melting pot heritage from Earth, Liam has always identified as a Martian. When things go horribly awry, though, all thoughts of identity and goodbyes give way to concerns about survival of the mission and of Liam himself after the giant ship departs leaving him and a few others behind. The book offers space travel, space chases (Liam and the others are trying to catch up), aliens, and espionage in an exciting start. The baffling first scene and shocker of an ending make clear that this series is about more than just human survival, as the book reveals a whole universe of beings that know way more than the scrappy humans trying to planetarily relocate with only woefully inadequate tools and skills. [End Page 308]