Dreams of the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn

Charles does his best to appeal to her better nature, and to her dream to become a pilot–since no training programs will take a pilot who has black marks from being naughty in school. Galileo Academy and its administrators are so strict, they practically beg for students to rebel. Polly can’t help but cause trouble, though. Charles knows his sister has a tendency to cause trouble and advises her to lay low as the school year starts–it’s already too easy for the first Martian students to draw attention to themselves. He can be an enigma to Polly, with his silent observations and subtle manipulations. Her genius brother Charles kind of acts as her conscience. Polly is the kind of girl who loves the rush of adventure and taking risks but it also makes her the kind of girl who’s less inclined to take rudeness from her peers (and adults). But for Polly, the hardest thing to get used to is the attitudes of the students toward the first Martians to attend the prestigious school. However, Vaughn’s portrayal of Polly’s experiences is swiftly engaging and compelling, from her acclimation to gravity, the food, open sky, and rain. One would think that learning about Earth–a thing readers would know very well–from the point of view of someone who’s never been here would be a boring storyline.

Now her newest book, MARTIANS ABROAD is another standalone in the vein of Heinlein’s Young Adult books (such as CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY - EBR review) mixed with a little STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND–only our protagonist is a teenage girl. We’ve reviewed several of her Kitty Norville books as well as a couple of her standalones, DISCORD’S APPLE ( EBR Review) and AFTER THE GOLDEN AGE ( EBR Review). Here at EBR we love us some Carrie Vaughn. Polly and Charles were born on Mars and have lived there all their lives but while Charles considers schooling on Earth as useful, Polly knows she’ll miss Mars and doesn’t want to give up her own plans. To Polly’s dismay, her mother–the administrator of Mars Colony–has signed up Polly and her brother Charles to the earth school Galileo Academy where the teens will rub shoulders with the progeny of the solar system’s elite.

Dreams of the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn