Thank you #Netgalley for the advance reader copy of Packing for Mars for Kids by Mary Roach in exchange for an honest review. I love Mary Roach's books. She takes subjects that people want to know more about and never really get good answers, but she finds out and writes about it in funny terms. I have read a couple other books of her's and loved them. This book was just as fun and interesting. I never thought about how astronauts go to the bathroom or bath, and now I know about fecal bags and greasy clothes. I laughed a lot reading this and recommended it to my friend with kids, I think they'll love it!

This was a really interesting non-fiction book about the technology that was needed for astronauts to go to space. I think teens will love reading about how to shower, go to the bathroom, and eat in space.

Such a great and interesting book for my middle grade readers!

What would it really be like to be an astronaut? Roach covers all the basics down to the points that you may not think about! This covers, anti-gravity, barfing (that will float all over in your helmet), bathroom needs (gravity issues!), food (can't have crumbs floating and getting in the electronics!), lack of baths (think of wearing your clothes for 2 weeks straight) and a new roommate in a very tight space for a longer period of time than is pleasant!

This book will spur more questions and get you thinking beyond what is shared in a really great way!

Thank you to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for the free e-reader copy in return for my honest review.

Get ready to get down and dirty with all the interesting and sometimes gross details on space travel and preparing for it. Author Mary Roach combines personal experiences with those of astronauts to take readers through the trials and tribulations of eating, sleeping, defecating, and puking in space (among other things--life fun science experiments). Highlights point out engineering and biological challenges that will uncover questions you never knew you had about space travel.

Mary Roach brings a talent for craft and research insight to bear in a book that is sure to capture young readers. An engaging assembly of word and image.

The Washington Post calls Mary Roach America’s funniest science writer. I might add the word interesting to her description.
In Packing for Mars for Kids, she poses the questions children are curious about and let’s be honest we adults wonder these things too, This is a young reader's adaptation of her best-selling book, Packing for Mars.

We’ve all wondered…
What is it like to float weightlessly in the air?
What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a spacewalk?
How do astronauts go to the bathroom? This chapter is particularly gross, so don’t bring a snack.
Is it true that they don’t shower? And how does your skin adapt to no cleaning for weeks at a time?
Can farts really be deadly in space?

Mary Roach has the answers. This is a factual, funny, gross, enlightening and informative young readers adaptation of her best-selling Packing for Mars. This is a behind the scenes awe-inspiring realm of space travel and life without gravity. I wonder if the astronauts were pleased their most intimate secrets were revealed here? “Okay who left the turd floating in the capsule?!”

I bet you’ve eaten that freeze dried astronaut ice cream purchased from a science museum. The fact is the astronauts didn’t like it so the stuff only went up into space once.. There are no carbonated drinks in space because without gravity it’s really difficult to burp, and if you did manage to get one out, a spray of liquid came flying out with it. Embarrassing. So living in space in the beginning was pretty nasty.

The book is packed full of first-hand experiences laid out through thorough much research. This is an authoritative and appealing book that is perfectly pitched to inquiring middle grade readers.

Text is enhanced with 35 black and white photographs.