It has been a while since I have posted. I have been reading lots of adult books and listening to audio books on my car trips this summer. I now have a long list of book titles for personal reading because looking for books to read always leads you on a trail of even more titles to read. But now that the August will start tomorrow, it is time to start reading from my pile of school library books.
This book, The Countdown Conspiracy looked like a winner when I selected it and it turned out to be a super book. I really liked learning about Astronaut Scott Kelly and his year adventure in outer space. Scott Kelly's Website (I gave the book he wrote about this experience to my brother in law. I wonder if he is finished and is willing to let me read it!) So this title was in my wheelhouse.
The Countdown Conspiracy is set in the future and plans are being made for six students who have been selected from around the world to go to Mars. Except they have nine years of training before it is a reality. The trip will take 9 months to get to Mars, then they spend a year there and then come back. There are three boys and three girls selected from a rigorous application process and all of them are geniuses on their own in engineering, technology, science, robotics and mathematics. They are just middle school kids. The world has just suffered from a devastating world war and so this Mars mission is hopefully a key to promoting peace and confidence in society again.
Except, the main character, Miranda, from the USA, gets a warning that lives are at risk. She and other members of the six are attacked and the warnings keep coming. Miranda and the other five team members try and figure out what is going on but, on a simulation test, the trip to Mars doesn't turn out to be practice but reality. They have to rely on their skills and intelligence when no one else is available to help them get back to Earth.
I am not a sciencey type of person, however, this kind of book fascinates me and I don't worry if I don't understand what they are talking about all the time. I am not sure I need to get everything. The adventure kept me turning pages and wondering what they could possibly do to get out of the trouble they were in. The characters were interesting and fun to get to know. I felt like a great snoop onboard a space mission!
There are a few swear words in the book and some deaths and violence. I would give this book to a fifth grader and older to read. There is a great glossary at the end of the book and an author's note talking about how she learned about space missions in order to make this book to be more science than fantasy. The reading level is 5th grade and it is 309 pages long. I rate it a 4 out of 4. I look forward to reading more from this author.
- Age Range: 8 - 12 years
- Grade Level: 3 - 7
- Lexile Measure: 700
- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins (August 1, 2017)