It’s just about a year since I last paid a visit to Mars. This time I went via “Mars is No Place for Children,” by Mary Turzillo. I like the story’s depiction of life on Mars, and the neat little inventive twists. Considering that this was my desktop image for over a year, it’s no surprise that I liked the story’s homage to Pathfinder and Sojourner.
It’s told as the diary of Kapera Smythe, sometimes in short entries, sometimes long ones where she remarks that she must be feeling better because she’s writing so much. She has just been diagnosed with leukemia, like too many others. As the doctor said, Mars is no place for children. Kapera’s parents are trying to get her to Earth, where she can be cured. That’s where her older brother, Sekon went. So in anticipation of meeting a brother she barely remembers, she addresses her diary to him.
People come to Mars by pledging indentured servitude, and the story takes a darker turn when her Kiamerican family, descended from African-Americans, discuss who should extend their indenture to pay for Kapera’s treatment. But refusing equally to leave Mars or become another tragedy, Kapera embarks on her coming of age adventure. She discovers the inevitable hidden truth, and finds her own way.
While I enjoyed her adventures, things seemed so dire, I had trouble buying into the ending. For me, this is one of those stories where I prefer the journey.
Writing Every Day 