The Search for Extraterrestrials: Life on Mars by Jon Agee

NOBODY BELIEVES THERE IS LIFE ON MARS.

BUT I DO.

Our young space explorer has a hypothesis. Life exists on the Red Planet, and he is determined to prove it.

He builds his spaceship and pilots it to a safe landing on the barren soil of Mars. Suited up, he sets out for some extra-vehicular activity on the Martian surface, hopefully carrying a small white gift box tied with red ribbon as a sign of friendship for the aliens he is sure he'll meet.

Leaving the first human footprints ever on the sands of Mars, he trudges along dutifully. But the Martian landscape is not promising. There's sand. Then there are rocks, and... more rocks.

IT'S DARK. IT'S COLD.
COULD ANYTHING POSSIBLY LIVE HERE?

I'VE BROUGHT CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES.
I DON'T THINK I'LL FIND ANYBODY TO EAT THEM.

Sadly, our little Mars rover abandons his little gift box, just as he spots something bright, standing out among the drab rocks. It's a yellow flower on a green stem. He's done it. There IS life on Mars.

I WAS RIGHT!

Clutching his proof, he regretfully realizing that he doesn't exactly remember where he parked the spaceship. He spots a high hill and climbs high until he spots his craft in the distance, and he wastes no time hotfooting it back to blast off for Earth with the proof of his theory.

But Jon Agee's sly story of single-minded pursuit of science, Life on Mars (Dial Books, 2017), has an ironic twist. Our hero does not know (but yes, dear reader, we do!) that all our hero has to do is look behind himself to see that he is being shadowed by a gen-u-wine Martian, a giant, foxy-looking extraterrestrial who slyly returns the boy's gift box back to the spaceship in time for lift off. And when, safely on his trajectory for Earth, the little astronaut decides to treat himself to those cupcakes, he has a perplexing surprise when he opens the box and finds....

CRUMBS?

There's probably a deep meaning about doing science with an open mind here, but most young readers will be too busy chuckling to themselves to suss it out, as the sneaky Mars alien stalks our clueless little space explorer, even lying down to provide the "hill" which he climbs, and readers will have no doubt what form of intelligent life ate those cupcakes with glee.

Kids will love being in on the joke all along in another of John Agee's clever and witty stories, illustrated in retro-cartoon style reminiscent of Syd Hoff's Danny and the Dinosaur, with the Martian landscape set appropriately against the black sky of space. It's a delightful and satisfying spoof that beginning readers will instantly make their own. School Library Journal seconds the verdict, saying, "It’s satisfying silliness from start to finish, with a gotcha ending that will prompt requests for repeat readings."