The Lion of Mars. Jennifer L. Holm. 2021. 259 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: The trip to Mars was the hardest thing they'd ever experienced. That's what the grown-ups said. The small, cramped ship. The constant fear of something going wrong. The knowledge that they could never return to Earth. But honestly, it sounded like a cakewalk compared to sharing a bedroom with Albie.
Premise/plot: Bell is the youngest child (11) living on the American settlement on Mars--the year 2091. The others are Albie (17), Flossy (16), Vera (15), and Trey (14). Life is good so long as it stays boring. B-O-R-I-N-G. Because when life is NOT boring, that means there's TROUBLE and DANGER. It means possible injuries, illness, or even death. Sadly, for Bell, life doesn't stay boring. Perhaps it starts with a few broken rules, perhaps the excitement was inevitable.
The rules are simple: do not go outside without a buddy; use the alarm bell in an emergency; keep a glow stick in your pocket; rovers are off-limits for children; do not go beyond the flag; no contact with foreign countries, ever.
Some rules are made to be broken. Lives may depend on rules being broken...
My thoughts: I never really thought of Jennifer L. Holm as a science fiction writer. But The Lion Of Mars works really well. I loved the world-building. I loved the storytelling and narrative. I loved the character development. I loved the pacing of it. It is at its heart a coming of age novel, it just happens to be set on Mars.
Quotes:
"Summer squash," he said.
"Socksy!" I said.
Phinneus chuckled. "I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing you say that."
"Socksy" was my very own slang for "great." When I was little, I hated wearing socks. To encourage me, the grown-ups would give me a piece of candy every time I put on a sock. After a while, I would put on a sock, walk up to them, and announce, "Socksy!" just to get candy. In my head, "socksy" meant "great!" because candy was great. It just sort of stuck. (26)
I spent hours poring over the animal book. I loved learning about Earth animals. They were awesomely strange. Like giraffes. Why didn't they tip over with those long necks? Or snakes. How did they move, since they didn't have legs? And penguins. Did they really live on floating pieces of ice? But the lions were my favorite. How could I not love the big cats? They were social and lived in a group called a pride. They helped each other and raised their cubs communally. They sounded just like us. All our grown-ups had raised us together. One sentence stood out to me: Lions who are rejected by their pride do not survive long. (52)
"Bell," Sai said, "Trey told me what happened on the train. It was very, very brave of you to walk through the tunnel by yourself to get help." But he was wrong. I hadn't been brave. "I almost gave up. I was scared the whole time," I confessed. His eyes met mine and he nodded. "That's what bravery feels like," he said. (141)
"How could a rock that size make such a big crater?" I asked. Sai looked down at me. "Something doesn't need to be big to have an impact," he said, and smiled. "Kind of like you." (169)
© 2021 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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