The lion of Mars / Jennifer L. Holm.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780593121818
- ISBN: 0593121813
- ISBN: 9781536475111
- ISBN: 9781685056971
- ISBN: 9780593121849
- ISBN: 0593121848
- Physical Description: 259 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
- Publisher: New York : Random House Children's Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, [2021]
- Copyright: ©2021
Content descriptions
General Note: | Publisher, publishing date, and paging may vary. Mark Twain Award nominee 2023-2024 Some copies may include sneak peek of The third mushroom. |
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references. |
Formatted Contents Note: | Nest -- A good day -- Weeds -- Secrets and gifts -- The rules -- Bad boring -- Left behind -- Animals -- Emergency -- Algae days -- Supply feast -- Family name -- Love and attention -- Cake -- Storm -- Dust -- Please advise -- Exterminate -- Vanished -- Trapped -- Darkness -- Follow -- Vacation -- Home again -- Situation report -- All is not well -- Please help -- Mars weeps -- Pride. |
Target Audience Note: | 530 Lexile. 530L Lexile Decoding demand: 95 (very high) Semantic demand: 100 (very high) Syntactic demand: 77 (high) Structure demand: 87 (very high) Lexile Grades 5-6 |
Study Program Information Note: | Accelerated Reader AR MG 4 6 510697. |
Awards Note: | Mark Twain Readers Award nominee 2023-2024 |
Search for related items by subject
Genre: | Science fiction. Mark Twain Nominees. |
Available copies
- 92 of 106 copies available at Missouri Evergreen.
- 1 of 1 copy available at North Kansas City. (Show)
Holds
- 1 current hold with 106 total copies.
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
North Kansas City Public Library | J HOLM (Text) | 0001002429056 | JUV Fiction | Available | - |
Adair County Public Library | JUV F Holm (Text) | 34029002547601 | Juv Fiction | Available | - |
Albany Carnegie Public Library | J FIC HOL (Text) | 35615010061319 | Juvenile Fiction | Checked out | 05/15/2024 |
Barry Lawrence - Aurora Library | Y FIC HOL (Text) | 37884103447383 | Youth Fiction | Available | - |
Barry Lawrence - Cassville Library | Y FIC HOL (Text) | 37884103447375 | Youth Fiction | Available | - |
Barry Lawrence - Marionville Library | Y FIC HOL (Text) | 37884103447359 | Youth Fiction | Available | - |
Barry Lawrence - Monett Library | Y FIC HOL (Text) | 37884103447391 | Youth Fiction | Checked out | 03/30/2024 |
Barry Lawrence - Mt. Vernon Library | Y FIC HOL (Text) | 37884103447367 | Youth Fiction | Available | - |
Barry Lawrence - Pierce City Library | Y FIC HOL (Text) | 37884103447342 | Youth Fiction | Available | - |
Barton County - Lamar | J FIC HOL (Text) | 31107211611542 | Juvenile Fiction | Available | - |
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The Horn Book Review
The Lion of Mars
The Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Eleven-year-old Bell is the youngest resident of the American settlement on Mars. Along with the older kids -- like Bell, all orphans transported from Earth -- and the settlement's adult staff, Bell spends his days in a colony constructed within the lava tunnels of Mars, going to class, working on the algae farm, cleaning up dust, and staying far away from the French, Finnish, Chinese, and Russian settlements, which are firmly off limits following a fatal rover accident many years earlier. Bell is closest to Leo, the settlement's cat, and Phinneus, who oversees the farming operations, and he misses fourteen-year-old Trey, who seems to be avoiding him in an effort to fit in with the older kids. When a disease carried by stowaway mice on a supply ship infects all the settlement's adults, Bell and Trey team up to seek help from the other settlements, and discover that the Americans have cut themselves off from a vibrant international community of settlers over a series of misunderstandings. The kids' determination to stay in touch with their new friends brings fundamental changes to life on Mars. Although the messages are less subtle, and more pointed, than in some of Holm's (Full of Beans, rev. 7/16) previous books, the well-wrought setting, including thoughtful depiction of lowish-tech Martian life, and a strong cast of well-developed characters make for an intriguing and compelling read. Sarah Rettger March/April 2021 p.90(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
The Lion of Mars
Kirkus Reviews
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Eleven-year-old Bell is basically a normal kid--except for the fact that he lives on Mars. Bell is the youngest of the children in America's Mars settlement. Life on Mars is pretty good; all the adults are caring, and although there are a lot of responsibilities, there are just a few strict rules, including a ban on contacting other nations' settlements. The arrival of a shipment of supplies from Earth is a cause for celebration, but soon the adults in the settlement begin getting deathly ill. Bell and the other children have to break the rules and seek out help before it's too late for all of them. Holm puts care and thought into her worldbuilding, dropping hints about what is happening on Earth while indicating that there is a whole universe to be explored and leaving the details to readers' imaginations. She borrows from real science to create her vision of the future, something that will intrigue science-minded readers and maybe even make it a gateway to science fiction for some. The characters are endearing, the story is compelling, and the book has a positive but not didactic message, although the conflict is resolved a bit too easily. Bell is part of a community on Mars that is without racial categories; he describes his skin tone as being in the midrange of those around him. A delightful space adventure. (author's note, additional resources) (Science fiction. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
BookList Review
The Lion of Mars
Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
In the year 2091, 11-year-old Bell leads a mundane life in America's small, underground settlement on Mars, along with a handful of adults and other orphaned children. He knows little of Earth and its various life-forms and cultures, a fact not helped by his home's self-imposed isolation from the nearby settlements of other nations, sparked by a mysterious incident, years before, that resulted in an American's death. Holm moves slowly in the first half, exploring Bell's quiet, day-to-day existence on the red planet as he worries over friendships, does chores, and begins to ask questions about his expanding awareness of the universe he inhabits. The excitement ratchets up when the children make an unauthorized excursion in a rover, curiosity driving them to peek in on neighboring settlements and voice growing doubts about their separation. The point comes to a head when a virus infects all of the American adults, forcing the kids to seek aid from their neighbors. The plot and setting are elegantly simple, yet the story proves completely engaging, driven by a charming cast of gentle characters and, more so, by Holm's lean, measured prose, which moves briskly and seems to strike a resonant note on every page. An unexpectedly cozy work of sf--celebrating science, community, and cooperation--that will have readers feeling right at home on Mars.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Best-selling, three-time Newbery Honor Book author Holm is as popular as ever in the wake of her Sunny graphic novels, and her dip into sf--with a plot that happens to feature an unchecked virus--is timely.
Publishers Weekly Review
The Lion of Mars
Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Peppered with such intriguing scientific details as the pervasive nature of Mars dust, Holm's (The Evil Princess vs. the Brave Knight) absorbing speculative novel is anti-isolationist at its core. Though 11-year-old Bell has always lived on Mars, he's a pretty regular kid: he loves cats, worries about friendships, and asks a lot of questions. Bell and four teenagers live with six adults and cat Leo in a homey, self-sustaining underground settlement "held together with duct tape," sharing chores (harvesting algae to manufacture toilet paper, for example) and learning about a perplexing Earth through digi-reels and the adults' memories. There are only a few rules in the Mars Settlement Mission, the most important being "no contact with foreign countries, ever," the result of a deep rift between various countries' settlements. When a serious virus strikes the adults, though, Bell and the other kids realize that the policy might become deadly. Holm's science fiction setting is rendered with a keen sense of place grounded by identifiable sociofamilial relationships (as the youngest, Bell is occasionally pressured into dangerous situations) and a clear philosophy about the power of cooperation: "Lions who are rejected by their pride do not survive long." Ages 8--12. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary Management. (Jan.)