Starred Review ALA Booklist (Fri May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

Starred Review Answering the questions on many kids' minds when imagining life in space, this book "will tell you what would happen, and what you would do, if you were the first kid on Mars." Using the second person, O'Brien then takes readers through every step of the four-month trip from Earth to Mars: aboard space elevators, orbital stations, transport rockets, landing modules, and more. These descriptions help give a speculatively scientific feel to the proceedings, full of technology that isn't that far off. Indeed, by involving the reader directly in the story, O'Brien helps ensure that they won't even realize they're learning all sorts of wonderful things about gravity, distance, geology, and life along the way. As strong as the narrative can be, though, it's really the visuals that will drop the most jaws. The nearly photorealistic scenes of space travel and planetary exploration are a rare example of warm and immediate digital rendering, although admittedly the faces can look a little creepy here and there. But it's easy to look past that and get lost imagining oneself exploring the pristinely serene scenery of the Red Planet. Until such a thing is possible, this is as close as a child will get d even in this guise, it's a pretty neat experience.

Horn Book (Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2010)

In his second book, not-so-intrepid second grader Alvin, little sister Anibelly, and their dad go camping. The hilarious text includes a twenty-one-step list of "how to pitch a tent." Look takes familiar kid traumas and ramps them up a notch. Pham's illustrations convey the story's humor and capture the pure joy of such things as lying in a sleeping bag under the stars.

Kirkus Reviews

Pairing a present-tense text to photorealistic digital paintings, O'Brien invites readers to take an entirely credible journey to Mars. <p>Pairing a present-tense text to photorealistic digital paintings, O'Brien invites readers to take an entirely credible journey to Mars. The second-person trip begins with a young, white, apparently male tourist's near-future ride up the space elevator to a space station, followed by a rocket flight to the Mars orbital base and then a quick descent to the small colony complex on the surface. After observing scientists at work, outings in a wheeled vehicle and the MarsPlane not only take "you" past the old Sojourner rover but also provide glimpses of Olympus Mons and the immense Valles Marineris. Six months later, it's back to Earth: "You have gone where no kid has gone before." The gear and human figures look as real as the settings, and though the author's repeated claim that Mars is the closest planet is a debatable one, so strong is the sense of verisimilitude that children may be surprised to learn that they can't (yet!) make the trip themselves. (Mars facts) <i>(Speculative nonfiction. 6-9)</i></p>

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

O'Brien (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Captain Raptor and the Moon Mystery) takes an inventive leap into the future, bringing readers on a journey to Mars. Made captivatingly real by stunning, photographlike digital art, the adventure begins as a child boards an “elevator car” that ascends along cables to reach an elaborate space station. A “Nuclear Thermal Rocket” docked there then embarks on a four-month journey to a space station orbiting Mars, from which a “lander” ship delivers the crew and young passenger to the planet's surface. The thrilled kid finally gets to explore the planet (“Gravity on Mars is less than half as strong as on Earth, so you take big, bouncing steps”), making his way to a habitat that houses scientists. O'Brien generates dramatic graphic particulars: sophisticated robotic machines perform various tasks and a sleek “MarsPlane” flies over the breathtaking Valles Marineris canyon. Though the second-person narrative makes the action feel immediate, when coupled with O'Brien's depiction of the protagonist as a Caucasian boy, it may leave non-white, non-male readers unable to connect. Still, this intriguing vision of space exploration should set imaginations soaring. Ages 5–up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(May)

School Library Journal (Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

Gr 2-6 What would it be like to travel to Mars, explore the red planet, and return to Earth? OBrien has created a realistic account of such a journey with informative text and polished digital art that sparks the imagination. Adults take a backseat in this adventure, as the narrator speaks directly to readers about what they could expect to see and do. Rich illustrations depict a young boy as the traveler, space vehicles, and rusty red landscapes with depth and detail. Following a four-month trip on a Nuclear Thermal Rocket, the boy joins scientists, engineers, and pilots living in a habitat on Mars complete with a greenhouse. As for finding life on Mars, it is explained that microscopic organisms are more likely than little green men. But who needs aliens when you have robots watering the plants and roving the surface? Additional facts are listed at the end of the book. Lisa Glasscock, Columbine Public Library, Littleton, CO