The Martian

Weir, A. (2014). The Martian. NY: Broadway Books.

Mark Watney becomes a Martian when a freak accident during a mission causes him to be stranded on Mars. His team believes he is dead.  He has to learn to survive and make his supplies last for as long as possible in the hopes of being rescued.  During a routine check of satellite images of Mars, NASA discovers that Mark has survived. Now the race begins to keep Mark alive and the plans for a rescue begin.  Mark’s team turns around and heads back to Mars to get him.  Mark must travel a great distance to meet them at a different landing spot.  He encounters many setbacks along the way, but finally makes it.  His team eventually manages to rescue him just in time.  I really enjoyed this book. I couldn’t stop telling my family and friends about it while I was reading it.  I loved the wit, sarcasm, and positive attitude of the main character.  He has the strength of character that I think many of us wish and hope we also possessed. This book is a great example of a science fiction novel.  It was filled with “real science” to make the scenarios so believable.  This sci-fi novel could truly apply to the real world.
This book could be used with grades 11-12.
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Check out these great trailers for the movie based on this book!