Part of the Mars Bound series, this book recounts three teens’ perilous journey to Mars after the death of the crew assigned to take them there. In addition to the deaths of the crew, a fellow teen has destroyed their radio, so they have no verbal contact with the Mars station. As they pull closer to the station, they realize that they are not allowed to enter the station, the doors are not opening. With little fuel or food, Gabriel makes the decision to force the Mars crew to open the doors by going full speed toward them. At the last moment they are allowed in and as they leave their spaceship and walk into the station, they are held at gunpoint. Gabriel tells the leader, Sheena (third in command of the space station), about their trip from Earth and the troubles along the way. At that point, she shares the news of the station – an earlier space vehicle from Earth had arrived and attempted to kill the colonists in order to return to Earth. The colonists were suspicious of Gabriel’s ship, because they didn’t respond to radio messages. The book ends with Sheena welcoming Gabriel and his two shipmates to the space station.

This book is part of series called Mars Bound and the reader will feel like this particular book is a chapter in a larger story. The writing is accessible and the pictures are retro. The story is short and at a second grade reading level, so struggling readers who enjoy science fiction should do well with this book. The teens are multicultural and the story is intriguing enough to entice the readers to check out the rest of the series.