Wow! Carole P. Roman Takes Readers to Mars! Let's Go!

I can't believe it! Carole P. Roman has now turned to the skies for our travel adventures! And Mars is the first planet... Well, I always hoped I could some day visit all the places she's been taking readers to through her "If You Were Me and Lived On...series... But, I think I'll not be planning this trip...this is definitely for all you kids! Or is it?! Maybe I could wish upon a star and find my way...Let's learn more!

Now this is a futuristic, science-filled story... Because the author is projecting that by the year 2054 we earthlings may be traveling to Mars! 

Once you move there, you would call yourself a Martian! Cool!  You would have to travel there by a spaceship with your parents. The traveling part of your voyage would last about six months, and you would be sure to take lots of games to play on your rocket ship.

Your parents prepared you for this journey by informing you would be staying on Mars for almost two years. You would have to wait to return to Earth for the planets to realign for a quick and safe trip home. The entire expedition would take almost three years. You would start your trip at ten years of age and return home closer to thirteen years old.

You know what I wondered? Well if you might be up there on Mars for years, then, unless there is email or other electronic equipment that can travel all the way to Mars, we might be out of communication with Earth for a very long time! Sure glad the whole family is going!

Did you notice that Mars looks red all over and is even called the Red Planet? That color comes from the rocks there because they are mostly made of iron. Oh, and you need to know that you can't breathe the air there, so you'll have to wear space suits! Why, we'll be just like the Jetson family, have you met them?

You'll be living in a home called a "Mars Living Module." There is nothing on Mars that could be used to build a house, so you have to bring everything that you can think you'll need for about three years...can you plan for that?

With all the details you'll be learning in this book, I was surprised at the comparison of Mars versus Earth. One fact was that Mars also circles the Sun, like Earth does... You can imagine how far away Mars is! And guess what, Mars has two moons while we have only one... If you are into science and astronomy, you definitely are going to learn much from this book...But some of it is scary!

Deimos, the smaller moon--Phobos is the larger moon--takes it name from the Greek word panic. With two moons inspired from the word fear and panic, you may wonder if they would make you a little nervous at night.

I have to say that I got so involved with what I was learning about Mars that I neglected to mention how beautifully this book illustrates the coloring of Mars, especially against the beautiful sky... It was interesting to learn that your father is working with other scientists to see if plants can be grown there! Isn't it wonderful to consider what the future brings in space travel?! Enjoy this highly recommended new book!

Would YOU like to travel to Mars? Better read this book to see what you'd be doing?! Whether or not Roman will be visiting other planets in the future, this certainly was an excellent addition to the If You Were Me Series...

GABixlerReviews

Carole P. Roman is the award-winning author of the Captain No Beard series. Both Captain No Beard-An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate's Life and Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis have received the Kirkus Star of Exceptional Merit. The first book in the series was named to Kirkus Reviews Best 2012. Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis has been named to Kirkus Reviews Best of 2015. Each book in the series has won numerous awards including the NABE Pinnacle Award, IAN Award, Moonbeam Award 2014, National Indie Excellence Award Finalist, Shelf Media Outstanding Series Award, ForeWord Review Five Star and Finalist in the Book of the Year, and Reader's Views Children's Book of the Year 2013. She has now added Mars to her series and plans to visit the red planet with her grandchildren. Roman is also the author of the award-winning non-fiction culture series, If You Were Me and Lived in... that explores customs and cultures around the world. She has co-authored a self help book, Navigating Indieworld A Beginners Guide to Self-Publishing and Marketing. She lives on Long Island with her husband and near her children and grandchildren.

When I Hear LM Preston - I Think Great YA Action!

First in Series
See My Review!

The Pack:
--Retribution--
Book 2:The Pack Series


By LM Preston






I have got to say that I've not found anybody writing YA that provides more action and adventure than LM Preston...OK, I don't read that much YA, but what I can guarantee is that Preston is an author who I trust will provide two things: Kids that fight against evil and strive for achievement--and some type of supernatural plus futuristic gizmos that are excitingly new and unique! Inventions, like a glide-board are now replaced by little gadgets that just fit on the shoes...plus you can use them to climb walls by placing them on your hands, for example. If Preston doesn't have the James Bond crew beat with her inventions, she at least rivals them for creative imagery that gets her kids out of the dangers they always seem to be involved with...Surely, you've read at least one of her books!

Just take a look at her cover for Retribution...fantastic, isn't it? I have this little habit of checking to see whether the front cover image matches the character in the book...This one I thought fit perfectly except for her eyes and you'll understand why when you read the book... The Pack series takes place on Mars, which has been taken over by Earth to house all criminals--rehabilitated or not... Earth has been crime-free for years and if something happens on Mars, people on Earth just cut off possible interaction with the planet...Now, wouldn't that be fantastic to have occur?

Shamira is the daughter of one of The Elite--those that live on Mars as the Lawmakers and Protectors. Shamira is now in training for becoming an officer, but, as she was earlier involved in crime solving (The Pack), she found a number of like-minded teens who started to follow and help her. They are now known as  The Pack and Shamira has been working and hoping that they all finish training and move on... The fact that some of them may have criminal backgrounds is not important to Shamira; she has learned to trust them. But that does not hold true for those making decisions.

It was the Pack that had destroyed the Monev--criminals and a location where drugs were being made and criminals continued the lives they had lived on earth. Now, Shamira's trainer and mentor has scheduled a final training review session at this site--she's not sure exactly why since it supposedly has been left as it was after being destroyed. Still, The Pack takes to the road, following Cal, when suddenly they are attacked, but they can't see their attackers (yes, they are invisible). One shot Shamira made had briefly fired open some of the material and she had seen part of one of their faces. Soon they were driving off, but one of The Pack had been hit, another was missing, and so was Cal!

They found Cal dead...

The Pack all were now under investigation and forced to stand down while others took over. Of course, Shamira knew that was not going to happen! So the group began to meet at various places to discuss what they were going to do. But one of The Elite kept her on edge, convinced that one of her friends had betrayed Cal and it could be any one of them, including Shamira...

But then a fire was set at Shamira's home and both her parents were seriously hurt. Shamira was afraid to trust anybody, even Valens, one of her friends who professed his love for her... Convinced that she had to act alone, she forced herself to argue with them and turned her back to investigate on her own...

What she discovered was that there were more missing kids on Mars...and much worse...

Can you tell I thoroughly enjoyed the second in this series! One small problem is that this writer is so prolific that proofreading errors slip through--but none that prevented the story from being totally enjoyed. Phenomenal One Press is still new, so I'm positive that these are clerical errors that will disappear in the future. This author is a great writer--and I'd have to tell her again, slow down and don't worry about publishing deadlines...Readers will wait for your books!


GABixlerReviews

Author: LM Preston, www.lmpreston.com
blog: http://lmpreston.blogspot.com/ (go to blog to see trailers and giveaways)

L.M. Preston was born and raised in Washington, DC. An avid reader, she loved to create poetry and short-stories as a young girl. With a thirst for knowledge she attended college at Bowie State University, and worked in the IT field as a Techie and Educator for over sixteen years. She started writing science fiction under the encouragement of her husband who was a Sci-Fi buff and her four kids. Her first published novel, Explorer X - Alpha was the beginning of her obsessive desire to write and create stories of young people who overcome unbelievable odds. She loves to write while on the porch watching her kids play or when she is traveling, which is another passion that encouraged her writing.

LM Preston
YA SciFi Author
WEBSITE: www.lmpreston.com
BLOG: http://lmpreston.blogspot.com/
PARTY BLOG: http://bookpartylmpreston.blogspot.com
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/LM_Preston
FACEBOOK:http://tinyurl.com/2fev6qc

Writing stories for and about kids that overcome the impossible...

Review: Read My Review - Then Enter Contest!

Visit Mars with


LM Preston

Image via Wikipedia

The Pack

By LM Preston
Phenomenal Press
ISBN: 9780984198979
316 Pages

By the year 2161, Earth is completely free of violence. Oh, there are still drugs, body organ theft and other “benefits” that the rich are willing to pay for, but if any problems arise, they just shut down travel to the planet! The Pack by LM Preston, who first captured everybody’s attention with Explorer X – Alpha has just released her YA novel, full of an action-packed adventure that I totally recommend—hey, you don’t have to be a teen to have fun reading about teen life! This book is definitely at 5+!

Mars is where it’s at! Or at least it is the place to be if you are a criminal. Originally, it was supposed to be that the criminals selected to colonize Mars were to be working to change—to create a new life. However, there were some hardened criminals who figured out how to relocate, figuring they would be kings there!

And they probably would have succeeded, if this possibility had not been predicted...

Major technological advances had been made. Mars had been built and colonized by the government, who had created a world as close to Earth as possible, including the generation of oxygen and other elements to approximate the control of temperatures there. Mars was colder in general and lacked the “green” of Earth, but it held its own beauty for those that had been born there and could not look back in their lives to miss their home...

For in addition to the relocation of criminals, there were also civilians who had been asked to spend time there. And a special Security Force Elite had been created.

With a body that had been developed from birth to provide extra strength and superior abilities...

But now, something had happened, the children of the original Security Force Elite were being kidnapped and several of the adults had been taken. There had also been other civilians adults and children taken, but the panic began because it should not have been possible for anybody to “take down” the Elite Force.

The daughter of two of the top-level Elite had had enough and wanted to save the children!

Shamira was a special young woman and even her parents did not know the extent of her abilities. In order to save her life when she was a baby, doctors had used advances that had only been used on adults before. She survived, but had been blind since then. Surprisingly, this had caused other children to shun her as a child and she had withdrawn into herself, allowing only her family to be loved and close. But the only one with whom she truly felt she could be herself was her younger brother David.

But then David was kidnapped also! And as Shamira roamed the streets trying to find out about all of the children and where they might be hidden—and during times her parents were working, she met Valens, whose sister had been taken. A hate-love relationship developed, Shamira hating the way Valens would not leave her alone, since she knew she could take care of herself. But then, after David was gone and he shared that his sister was also gone, she realized that it would take more than her own strengths to find them!

And The Pack was formed!

In addition to The Pack by LM Preston being an excellent action-filled adventure, there is a very comforting underlying story about friendship, parental guidance—and love. You can’t beat those additional qualities for a YA book! Preston writes/creates “stories of young people who overcome unbelievable odds.” In my opinion, they are some of the best around to help our children understand and live in today’s world!

G. A. Bixler

The publisher is excited about the contest for The Pack. Here is the contest being offered.

· Free signed book, poster  and magnet

· All of the winners from the Virtual Blog tour will automatically get a free copy of the next book released by Phenomenal One Press, BANDITS that comes out Spring of next year.

All you need to do to enter is to follow the lmpreston blog listed below and a fan at Facebook!

LM. Preston
YA Science Fiction AUTHOR
WEBSITE: http://www.lmpreston.com/
BLOG: http://lmpreston.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000094441527&ref=mf

Upcoming Releases
EXPLORER X - Alpha (Feb. 2010)
THE Pack (Fall 2010)
Writing stories for and about kids that overcome the impossible...