A Rover's Story

My sister recommended A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga. Even though she hasn't read it, she heard Jasmine Warga speak at a conference about this book, and I loved the author's book Other Words for Home. The book description says, "Meet Resilience, a Mars rover determined to live up to his name. Res was built to explore Mars. He was not built to have human emotions. But as he learns new things from the NASA scientists who assemble him, he begins to develop humanlike feelings. Maybe there’s a problem with his programming…. Human emotions or not, launch day comes, and Res blasts off to Mars, accompanied by a friendly drone helicopter named Fly. But Res quickly discovers that Mars is a dangerous place filled with dust storms and giant cliffs. As he navigates Mars’s difficult landscape, Res is tested in ways that go beyond space exploration. As millions of people back on Earth follow his progress, will Res have the determination, courage, and resilience to succeed…and survive?"

This was a fun read. I enjoyed the perspective of Res (kinda similar to a book like The Wild Robot), and I liked how it switched off with letters from Sophie as well. I really liked the human characters (Rania and Xander) and their relationship with Res, and I also liked both Res and his drone Fly and their unique personalities.  I thought this was a fun book to follow the story as so much time passed.

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)