A Rover’s Story
by Jasmine Warga
Intermediate     Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins    320 pp.         g
10/22     978-0-06-311392-3     $17.99
e-book ed.  978-0-06-311394-7    $12.99

Warga ( Other Words for Home , rev. 7/19; The Shape of Thunder , rev. 5/21) imagines a sentient space rover with human emotions who is embarking on a perilous one-way trip to Mars. Resilience (Res for short) narrates much of the book and has profound conversations about life with his companion drone and a nearby satellite. Interspersed throughout are letters written to Res by Sophie, the daughter of Rania, one of Res’s programmers. Res sets off on an exploration that will thrill fans of both adventure and robot stories and also provide intellectual sustenance for the deep thinkers, with the novel asking existential questions such as: where do memories and experiences go when we die? Looking at the remains of a broken-down rover, Res wonders, “Are we all going to end up just like this?” Through the character of a robot who has feelings and self-awareness, Warga probes issues of identity, attachment, and the purpose of life, offering readers an unusual but heartfelt example of the importance of staying true to yourself, quirks and all.

From the November/December 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.