teaching points: Global warming, climate change, so many people don't take it seriously even though the damage and issue is obvious, aspect of being determined to change the world, moving to mars and changing the world
genre: fiction
also a full chapter book that could be used as a curriculum reading for 5th grade ( )

Twelve-year-old Miscah “Ish” Love is a smart, self-aware, young girl with big dreams. She wants to be one of the first people to live on Mars. Together with Tig, her BFF (Best Friend Forever), they researched and planned everything together, even applied online, but now Tig is DTM, Dead To Me (her), because he moved away and she hasn't heard from him. Struggling to cope with his loss, she is trying desperately to keep their/her Mars dream alive. Even though it’s difficult without Tig and this monster headache that won’t go away, Ish's first day of seventh grade doesn’t seem to be going too badly, that is, until she passes out and wakes up in a hospital room. Funny, sad, heartfelt, honest, this tween novel takes you on a compelling, rewarding emotional journey that’s definitely worth the trip.

Sharyn H. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

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"In Karen Rivers's riveting new novel, Ish's dreams for a future on Mars go heartbreakingly awry when an unexpected diagnosis threatens to rewrite her whole future." --

From Follett
Twelve-year-old Mischa "Ish" Love's longtime dream has been to someday live on Mars, but when she collapses on the first day of seventh grade, Ish receives a diagnosis which threatens her future plans.

Mischa “Ish” Love is a precocious 12-year-old who is heavily into science and environmentalism, to the chagrin of her mom, who wishes she would be more relaxed and enjoy life more. (Ish says her mom “has obviously mistaken me for an ice dancer or a regular girl…”)

Ish for her part is frustrated that she is the only one who seems to be taking the planet seriously, while other kids “run around and throw their candy wrappers into the wind and assume someone else is going to clean up their mess.”

Ish did, however, have a great deal of fun when her BFF, Tig Diaz, lived next door, but he moved away nine months prior, and she hasn’t heard a word from him since. Tig shared her concerns and dreams, but just dropped her without a word. She tries to pretend he is just “dead to her” now, but she misses him, and is lonely and hurt.

She tries to think about other things, and occupies her time planning for her eventual immigration to Mars as part of the “Mars Now” project that purports to be equipping Mars for settlements in ten years. She will be 22 then and just knows she will be perfect, if only they will accept her into the program. She and Tig had spent six years planning for what they would do on Mars and how they would survive. She muses:

“If people were all either flowers or weeds, I’d be a weed. Weeds are survivors. Weed are what they need on Mars. Nothing fragile. No one who will die at the first sign of trouble.”

But alas, Ish turns out to be a flower after all, when it is discovered that she has an aggressive brain tumor. She is told it is the size of a Brussels sprout, so she calls it that, or Nirgal, which was how the ancient Bablylonians referred to Mars - Nirgal meant “death star.”

The rest of the book takes us through the states Ish goes through - the sadness, the anger, and the fear. But eventually she manages to find acceptance of her situation:

“Like you imagine your life is this elaborate line that twists and curls and makes beautiful pictures, but the real beauty of life is that it isn’t like that at all. It’s a meteor, streaking across the sky. Meteors don’t twist and turn. They just cut straight across, faster than you ever imagined.”

Ish undergoes chemotherapy and radiation, but the tumor grows fast, and takes over larger portions of her brain. She loses more and more of a sense of her surroundings, increasingly imagining herself living on Mars, planting things, and waiting for everyone else to come. Finally, all she can see are prisms of light - a symphony of light, “playing inside me, singing about all my beautiful forevers.”

Evaluation: This book is not as depressing as it sounds, but it is by no means a “happy” story. The author does an excellent job of describing the processes of hospitalization and chemotherapy, and portraying what it might be like to have brain functions gradually slip away. This little girl’s journey will help kids understand similar situations of sick relatives or friends in their lives. ( )

Mischa, otherwise know as “Ish,” is fascinated with Mars. She plans on being one of the first people to live on Mars. Her best friend, and Mars partner in crime, Tig, moved away and ceased all contact with her. Ish cannot understand how he can just stop their friendship. Ish cannot understand why, just because she is a girl, no one believes her Mars dreams will come true. Ish cannot understand the other kids her age at school. But the one thing Ish does understand, and will always understand, is Mars. Even when cancer enters her life.

When I received this ARC, I read the first couple of pages out of curiosity, even though I was in the middle of another book. After those first few pages, I knew I would have to finish, LOVE ISH before I could come back to the other book. The voice of the main character, Ish, captivated me immediately and drew me in. I wanted to get to know Ish better. I couldn’t stop and read the book in two sittings. Anyone, especially girls/women who love science, will love Ish. Anyone who has ever felt a little bit different will adore Ish. Ish is someone you must get to know. Author, Karen Rivers, knows how to get you wrapped up in a character’s life. A great book for any intermediate/middle-grade classroom or child. ( )