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Behind the Book: A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga

Over the years, Jasmine Warga's books have received many honors, including a Newbery Honor, and landed on countless State Award lists. A Rover's Story has quickly become a classroom favorite and was selected as the 2023 Global Read Aloud pick. We're so excited to be bringing this book to teachers, librarians, and readers in affordable paperback on February 27th!

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?

Jasmine Warga is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Other Words for Home, a Newbery Honor Book and Walter Honor Book for Younger Readers, and The Shape of Thunder. Her teen books, Here We Are Now and My Heart and Other Black Holes, have been translated into over twenty-five languages. She lives in the Chicago area with her family. You can visit Jasmine online at www.jasminewarga.com.

Praise for A Rover's Story

It’s a gripping read. The novel does a terrific job of communicating scientific information to young readers, and it’s also emotionally satisfying.”
  — New York Times Book Review
 
“Warga follows her cybernetic narrator from first awareness to final resting place—and stony indeed will be any readers who remain unmoved by the journey. The intelligences here may be (mostly) artificial, but the feelings are genuine and deep.”
  — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
 
"A touching, fact-filled novel [that] centers the maturation of gutsy Mars rover Resilience.”
  — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
 
“An endlessly inventive story, replete with gentle humor and playful pondering, offering a unique perspective on everything from music and electronics to loyalty and love. Res is written in a distinct, precise voice and sweetly countered by interspersed letters to the rover from a young girl intimately connected to his being, and both thoughtfully evolve as the years pass. A profound and poignant exploration of the universe both outside and within us all.”
  — Booklist (starred review)

Global Read Aloud

We were thrilled to learn that A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga was selected for 2023’s Global Read Aloud! Get your library or classroom ready for GRA in October by reading the book that Booklist called, “A profound and poignant exploration of the universe both outside and within us all.”

Other Books by Jasmine Warga

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