I think the case for sending people to Mars is more compelling if you're already interested in the idea of space travel. Otherwise, it takes a lot of patience to get through the levels of detail in this graphic novel, and although well-illustrated, it's fundamentally two people talking to each other. I admit, I gave up before the end. It's just not that interesting to me to go through in this level of detail.

Super interesting book and a fun fresh format for young readers. Who knew it is so difficult to get to Mars!?

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This is a great teen graphic novel with lots of great information about going to space and what it does to our bodies and how hard it is to get there. Teens will enjoy I think

The Mars Challenge is an excellent and accessible overview of what it will take for humans to get to Mars. Science is not my forte, but I was still able to understand the book completely and I truly appreciate that. This will be an amazing addition to all teen nonfiction collections!

A book that has me running straight to my high school science-teacher colleagues. The Mars Challenge is the perfect graphic novel to integrate into any high school curriculum or to enrich the life of a young person interested in STEM. But I in no way want to narrow the audience for this book. I loved it! It is informative, inspiring, and depicts a healthy and rewarding mentor-mentee relationship.

The driving question in this well-drawn graphic novel is “What are all the conflicts that need to be solved before a space flight can be made to our next door neighbor, Mars?” The story is told in a series of conversations between Nadia, a teen who wants to be the first woman to Mars, and her mentor, Eleanor, an Attitude Determination and Control Officer (basically, a rocket scientist!). Eleanor guides Nadia through a hypothetical journey to the red planet. From the major difficulties of gravity and keeping astronauts alive throughout the journey and on the surface to the physics of landing the craft and the mathematics of the fuel reserves to get home, Wilgus details all the logistics of getting a huge chunk of metal with some sentient beings inside to a rock 85 million miles away…

I found it best to read this book in parts as the details can get a little thick in places, but I think the author does a great job of splitting up the parts of the journey into well-formed chapters. Each chapter builds on the previous and the reader can truly see the complicated task of building and operating the space rocket. There’s also the building of rapport between Nadia and Eleanor that illustrates how important these relationships are between young women and women in science careers. The illustrations are a mixture of straightforward panels featuring in depth conversations and large graphics that show the engineering in action.

The Mars Challenge is a graphic novel that features a complex scientific problem and an inspiring mentor-mentee pair of female scientists who are prepared to jump in with both feet.

This book helps to continue my appreciation of First Second Books. I know that I will always get the whole package with their releases. This publisher delivers dynamic artwork, well-researched and topical titles, as well as books that are always accessible to multiple audiences. It doesn’t get any better than First Second when it comes to graphic novels!

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, First Second Publishing, and the author for an advanced copy for review.

Through the conversations of an eager teen who wants to go to Mars and an adult scientist, readers learn all the hurdles that need to be passed before humans are ready for a manned mission to Mars, from overcoming the headaches gravity poses to figuring out how to keep humans alive once they get there and everything in between.

This is like a crash course in space flight engineering, but in graphic novel form and written in a way teens can easily grasp (and even motivated tweens). The science is solid and broken down very well. I learned so much from this about why we aren’t going to Mars tomorrow, or even in the next decade most likely. But the goal isn’t to discourage, it is to encourage young minds to start thinking of ways to overcome these hurdles. Highly recommended to anyone with a smidgen of science nerd in them or who has dreamt of being an astronaut or working for a firm that designs space vehicles.

Notes on content [based on the ARC]: No language issues (unless heck is a bad word in your community, about 4 of those). No sexual content. Fatalities in past space missions are mentioned but not graphically described. Illnesses/conditions suffered by recovering astronauts and cosmonauts also touched on briefly.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This title gives a very detailed scientific exploration of the challenges facing any potential manned mission to Mars, from launching astronauts into space and landing on Mars to bringing them back home. The central focus of the story is a dialogue that takes place between a mission control officer, Ellie, and a teenage girl, Nadia, who hopes to someday be an astronaut on a Mars mission. The characters build a decent rapport, mixing in humor and banter among what can often be tough to understand concepts. The illustrations are helpful in visualizing the different tech and conceptual physics involved in spaceflight, and in case you forget any of the many acronyms and scientific terms, a glossary is included in the back of the volume. It is the graphic nature of this title that makes or breaks it - the format is just more accessible than reading the same material in a textbook style. Not every reader will have the patience to see this graphic novel through, but those who want to understand the real-world science behind some of their favorite science fiction will find this title extremely informative.

This was the most clear, concise, and colorful guide on space exploration I have yet to read. The author spent a huge amount of time researching and it definitely shows.

I had to read this in chunks even though it's a fairly short read just because of how dense the information is (for someone who's not a space expert). The book consists of two people, a teen and scientist, walking around a Mars-like landscape discussing what exactly it would take to get us to Mars and back, but the landscape eventually morphs into the locations they discuss--inside the spacecraft, the surface of Mars, etc. It's a graphic novel, so the use of visual guides and graphs to explain information feels natural and helps clarify the science, while the back-and-forth conversation between the characters answers any questions that arise about confusing topics. The dialogue is also very light-hearted, which keeps it entertaining and possibly more accessible to reluctant teen readers.

I thoroughly enjoyed this and would love to reread it to soak in more of the information. For anyone interested in space exploration, I highly recommend this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC!

This book is about the mission to Mars. I love that they don't dumb down the language. That being said this is a very wordy comic. Since I don't have a science background I did have to reread in a few places to completely understand what was being said. I could see a kid who was into space being really excited about this story. If you are not familiar with space stuff this might be a bit overwhelming.

The art is cute and I love the chapter titles being written in the background. It was a cute touch. Overall, this was a really interesting story showing the science of traveling to Mars.

I really dislike having to hunt for the creative team. I am hoping that with the final copy of this book the creative team will be easier to find.

Creative Team:
Text Alison WIlgus
Art Wyeth Yates
Letters Chris Dickey
Consultant Liz Warren PhD and Emily Lakdawalla

Written in the style of a graphic novel, this book is full of information about the challenges related to the Mars mission. While the book does use a lot of technical terminology, it also takes the time to explain unfamiliar terms for younger audiences and provides a fascinating look into the future possibilities of a manned space flight to Mars.

Join ambitious high schooler Nadia and her mentor, ISS Pilot Eleanor, as they discuss the main problems that are face us today in getting a manned mission to Mars. The topic is presented as a conversation between the two with various diagrams and “trips” to the International Space Station, Mars, and others as Eleanor describes the hurdles scientists and engineers have to overcome. Some of the issues include the Rocket Equation, the formula for calculating how much fuel you will need to get the mass of your rocket off the ground, how to keep humans alive in space, how to safely land on Mars, and how to return home, among others.

This is probably one of the most thorough telling of the exact problems stopping us from launching a manned mission to Mars. I learned an incredible amount from this title, and I have a passable knowledge of space flight. However, this was difficult to get through in one sitting because of the density of information. Do not approach this as a normal graphic novel that is consumed all at once. The chapters are broken up into specifics problems and it is highly advised to actually pause for a day or two at each chapter and let your brain digest the information from the previous chapter. It would also be more engaging if it wasn’t just Nadia and Eleanor talking. A lot of concepts are “told” instead of “shown”. The second half of the book has more trips and hands-on things for the characters to do, but I could have used a lot more illustration on the concepts being discussed and less focus on the faces of the characters. The art is less detailed than I would have liked for complicated concepts, leaning a little more cartoony than illustrative.

Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12

This review was made possible with an advanced reader copy from the publisher through Net Galley.

I was given an advanced copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

First, this novel is said it is for Young Adults, I feel like it fits more in the advanced Young Readers section, regardless, it still had a great deal of information and understandable. It is just a little bit cheesy in some ways, which is why I feel it is pitched more for young readers.

This non-fiction graphic novels takes you through a conversation between a young girl and her mentor as they learn what it may take to get humans to Mars and what we have learned and where we are at as a society currently. This was quite interesting with a lot of research and information that the author did, which makes it quite interesting and I did learn a great deal. In some aspects the information was interesting and I learned a lot, at other times it seems quite dense and boring so I would maybe NOT recommend reading it all in one sitting. In the beginning it does seems quite cheesy and for younger readers, however, as it goes a long the tone changes and does not seem as being spoken down to as much. A lot of REALLY good information and I learned a lot!

The Mars Challenge is a graphic novel with two characters conversing on how to get people to Mars. It is very science heavy and would be a good read of HS and up as some of the topics are maybe a bit above an average middle school student, however, I wouldn't discourage middle grade student to pick it up. The graphic were great and the info is fabulous if you want to learn more about space exploration and the challenges facing getting humans to Mars or any where in space.

I was provided with an electronic ARC through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book is about a conceptual journey to Mars where two characters discuss the challenges that can be faced. I struggled with the conversation format in this book. It didn't engage me like a story would. I am not sure if younger readers would be engaged as well. I thought the graphics were wonderful. I also appreciated the glossary in the back of the book since there is vocabulary included that readers might not know the meanings of.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an opportunity to read and review this title.

Well, I really did like this, but I think it would be more engaging if it weren't just . . . a conversation between two people? I did myself find it interesting enough, but I wonder about the non nerdy population. Nicely illustrated and well done though I'd like more "story" format sections.
Thanks to NetGalley for this review copy!