Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: A ROVER’S STORY by Jasmine Warga
Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Peter Blenski
A ROVER’S STORY by Jasmine Warga is not only a crowd favorite, but a mock favorite given all the praise it’s been given this year. That praise is certainly not unwarranted though, as it’s equal parts approachable and heartwarming. Resilience, or Res as he likes to be called, may have only been programmed to navigate Mars and track down a broken rover, but he makes an equally important discovery about what it means to be alive. The story focuses on Res as he makes his slow and methodical journey across the planet, but also through the eyes of the family with intimate ties to Res, as they also learn what it means to be a family.
The criteria I wanted to focus on was “setting,” which is perhaps one of the more neglected criteria. Because if it’s done right, you don’t really notice it. But here, it definitely stands out. We don’t even get to Mars until halfway through the book, but once we do it completely changes your outlook. Author Warga does a great job describing the coldness of the world, the dirt getting stuck in Res’s gears, and the loneliness of slowly marching across the desert. If the setting was forgotten, I feel the whole piece wouldn’t work. It’s through this setting that Res learns to not just look, but observe. Not just report, but feel. Through the setting, Res develops courage by fighting the storms, and intelligence by fighting his programming and climbing mountains. Out of all the books, this made me feel the most like I was there, which is a credit to Warga and her use of setting.
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Heavy Medal Award Committee members and others are now invited to discuss this book further in the Comments section below. Please start with positive observations first; stick to positives until at least three comments have been posted or we reach 1:00 pm EST.
Filed under: Book Discussion, Heavy Medal Mock
About Emily Mroczek-Bayci
Emily Mroczek (Bayci) is a freelance children’s librarian in the Chicago suburbs. She served on the 2019 Newbery committee. You can reach her at emilyrmroczek@gmail.com.
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A Rover’s Story is such an ambitious kind of book. It spans a huge length of time as well as distance and has a very unique cast of characters. What stands out for me in terms of Newbery distinction is the delineation of characters. I loved how we got to experience the inner narrative of Res, a nonhuman character with very human feelings, as well as the letters from Sophia and how they changed over the years. Warga writes so that you can really empathize with Res and what it would have been like to be a Mars rover as well as the hopes and fears that we can imagine a rover having.
I agree with Peter that the setting also stands out. You really felt the desolate landscape of Mars along with Res as you roved across the planet.
I was impressed with how Warga handled the span of time! It didn’t feel rushed or inauthentic at all, which I think must have been very difficult to accomplish.
I completely agree with Warga’s handling of the span of time! Not only did it not feel rushed, but she managed to adjust the voice of Sophia as she got older. She showed great skill in that aspect!
Peter, thanks for the introduction. I agree that this book has a well described setting, but what stands out to me, as Amanda stated is how Warga creatively gives personalities to the nonhuman characters. Res, the rover, is always in conflict with his peers, the other machines, who tell him it’s not good to experience human emotions. He won my heart due to his curiosity, courage, and how he continued to overcome his self-doubt to become a compassionate leader. Fly, the lovable drone is a constant bother, always asking questions, yet lightens up tense situations with the song ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Journey with its beeps and boops, and Guardian, the satellite, all business and bossy. Even Raina’s phone is a character, (pages 36-38). I loved the humor of the phone playing its own games that Raina downloaded because Raina was to busy to play them herself. Outstanding creative writing style.
This book reminds me of the documentary about the Mars rover, ‘Good Night Oppy’, Just like Res, I wanted Oppy to succeed and be loved. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised how much I like A ROVER’S STORY, and I can image that kids will fall in love with it too.
Well said Peter-I agree that Warga’s writing transports you to Mars and you are nervously watching for dust devils and crossing your fingers as Res ventures farther and farther and tackles some precarious climbs. Another strength would be the theme of resilience -the resilience of both Raina and Xander as they worked endless hours to assure the mission’s success, Res’ resilience in persisting to find something noteworthy and prove his worth (and hopefully return to Earth) and the resilience of Sophie as she struggled with her emotions and Raina’s personal struggle as she battled illness.
Beeps and boops and zippedy zap-I loved this story-it tugs at your emotions and readers of The Wild Robot will be delighted to learn about a real-life robot and exploration of Mars.
I was really amazed at this book. I went in a little skeptical, but Warga is an amazing writer who grips you emotionally from the very beginning. The setting was great, so richly told even in the lab, and the delineation of characters soared—even on Mars.
While not an OFFICIAL newbery criteria, when I sobbed at the end of this book, I couldn’t help but think of the other Newbery books that made me cry with my whole chest—When You Trap a Tiger in particular
Thank you for this great introduction, Peter. I agree that the setting in this book really shines. Mars is so vividly depicted in this book.
I also thought that the delineation of characters was well done. Each of the different robots has a little different personality without it being overdone or caricature.
Looking at the Newbery Criteria, I think this book also excels at “display[ing] respect for children’s understandings, abilities, and appreciations.” A robot narrator has the potential to be a little gimick-y, but Warga presents Res as a real, complex character, distinctly not human, but still filled with qualities that create empathy from readers. The bigger philosophical questions about what it means to be human, etc. are explored in ways that young readers, who might not have even considered some of this stuff before, can understand. I wasn’t so sure about the Sophie interludes at first, but in the end they worked really well. Initially, she gives kids a more familiar, comfortable viewpoint to balance the uniqueness of Res. Towards the end, when we jump ahead more quickly, that contrast between robot-time and human-time is striking, and it comes because we already had a connection to younger Sophie…
Perhaps I should start by saying that OTHER WORDS FOR HOME knocked my socks off, and I liked THE SHAPE OF THUNDER too, so my expectations were high going into this book – and I absolutely loved it.
Peter, I agree that the setting is very well done and unique, but setting is only a piece; I think character and theme are also so strong here.
Res’ voice is established right away, beginning on page 1 (“I have been built for observation”) and continuing throughout as he observes and understands more and more (and occasionally fails to understand: “I usually understand everything. It is a confusing and terrible feeling to not understand something”). Sometimes Res’ and Sophie’s fears mirror each other, like when Res confronts the unexpected, and Sophie faces uncertainty about Rania’s health. Fortunately, as Rox Anne wrote, chatterbox drone Fly brings the humor and some poignancy; he reminded me a bit of a good Pixar sidekick.
Steven, I love what you wrote about Sophie’s letters being interspersed with Res’ narrative: “the contrast between robot-time and human-time is striking.” Sophie’s additional perspective, and the way that time passes for her differently than it does for Res, is a very effective storytelling strategy, and adds a lot of heart. (I teared up on page 267 when Sophie writes: “[The doctors] have told us to prepare for the worst. But I don’t know how to. I don’t know how you prepare to lose your mom.”)(And then it’s a fakeout and Rania is there at the end! I wonder if that would have been different in a YA novel versus MG, although plenty of MG authors do go there, like Rajani LaRocca in RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE.)
Speaking of the end, I think the themes come through strongly there: (1) “There’s still a lot of things you don’t know, huh?” “Yes,” Xander says. “But that’s what is exciting. There is so much potential for new discoveries” (p. 290), and (2) “…I am both big and small. Important and insignificant. A dot on a long and continuous timeline” (p. 291). Warga makes a tremendous case for science and exploration, without being at all preachy or didactic about it.
Reading A ROVER’S STORY, I thought about other books whose authors have successfully employed non-human narrators, like Katherine Applegate in WISHTREE and THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN (Newbery 2012). I think A ROVER’S STORY is an incredibly strong Newbery contender; safe to say it’s in my top three.
Personally, I didn’t like the fakeout, and Jenny is right–it really is one. I don’t have the book with me, but doesn’t one of Sophie’s letters say something to the effect of being too upset to write about what happened, from which the reader is to infer Rania died? It’s unfortunate, because up till then, Sophie was doing a better job representing Ziva’s arc than Ziva did, and I was thinking Sophie was the best part of the book, both as a character and as an innovative literary way to show time’s passage (Go Blue!) After the fakeout, I came to view the entire Rania illness subplot as unnecessary. The other concern I have about this book—I was actually thinking of recommending this to an 8-year-old girl interested in STEM, but then decided that’s it’s not really that STEM-y. As literature, it’s about feelings and friendship, and those tropes felt a lot like seemingly every robot and/or scientist story for children.
I am STILL confused by the fakeout and that to me was such a huge flaw of the book… like not only is it a poorly done subplot.. but what happened? she recovered and got promoted… they fill in a lot of blanks in this book, but not that one and that seems like to much to leave out.
This is why I love talking about books: I loved the fakeout! I inferred that it was a cancer diagnosis when Sophia was too upset to talk. I was so joyful when Rania was still alive. I love a twist as I read. The first was that Sophia was Rania’s daughter. I didn’t see it coming. The second was that Rania was still alive. Also didn’t see it coming. I thought the Rania subplot added to the richness of the book. Admittedly, I had been very excited about this book for my older students (5th graders) but began to think it was too heavy when I thought Rainia had died. (We’ve had several parents of students die suddenly recently. I’m sensitive to it.) When she was alive I happily put it back into my potential reads for that age group.
Just revisited the text, Emily. I admit there were jumps in the timeline of Rainia’s recovery and also Sophie growing up and I was a bit put off, but I would say it’s my only criticism. I got over it, apparently!
The fakeout didn’t bother me at all either – it was a nice surprise to see Rania alive and well at the end! I reviewed Sophie’s last few letters, and while the reader is likely meant to assume the worst, it never actually says that Rania died (in fact – correct me if I’m wrong – it never specifically says it’s cancer, although that’s what I assumed). The final section is shorter than the others and serves as denouement, almost an epilogue, since it takes place so many years later. I suppose there’s an argument to be made that it’s a bit sparse compared to the other sections, but that seems appropriate – like a coda.
I do agree that the fakeout is a flaw. It seemed unnecessary to carry the plot along and almost added a saccharine feeling to the end that just didn’t need to be there. I wasn’t confused exactly, just disappointed in this one point.
I am also still very confused about the fake out. It feels like an unnecessary subplot if all it was there for was to give us a little surprise at the end. It also felt a bit sloppy.
As referenced before, this book felt so very much like watching a Pixar film. For me this was good (all the fuzzy emotional connection which makes us root for Res, empathise with the hasmats, and hang onto the Sophie subplot), but it also made it feel a bit too formulaic as a hero’s journey.
While I think she dealt with big time jumps in a structurally clever way — the time between letters got a bit tedious for me and the fakeout has the potential to be very confusing for the target audience.
It IS reminiscent of a Pixar film. What a great comparison!
Also high on my list for all the reasons mentioned. A Rover’s Story happened to be the one I grabbed first out of all 16 and so I’ve been comparing everything to it since. The characters in Daisy Chen or Swim Team weren’t as complete and developed to me as Warga’s. The evolution of Res’ and Journey’s and Sophie’s feelings was so interesting to me as they struggled with having/not having feelings or just growing up, in Sophie’s case. And while I felt the insidious distrust in I Must Betray You, I wouldn’t classify that as setting. Warga did a great job, as Peter said, of putting us on Mars. I can see lots of kids loving this book. It’s an added bonus that it’s appeal is pretty non gender specific.
I loved the way that Res had to figure out human emotions/mannerisms/way of life. Warga wrote those moments in such a way that kids will pick up on what Res doesn’t know or understand and it’ll be fun to be in the know.
On a sentence structure level, A ROVER’S STORY hit it out of the park for me. “That is a fact that I can’t think about too much or I start to feel like one of Xander’s dark eye circles” (p. 109). He could have just said he was scared or worried but he tied it back to an observation he had made from when Xander was worried and tired.
I also appreciated the style of ROVER, especially the shorter chapters and the letters from Sophie. Both kept the story moving forward and gave just enough information to satisfy the moment while withholding the right amount to keep me reading.
I agree, Elizabeth, and keep going back to Steven’s point that “this book excels at “display(ing) respect for children’s understandings, abilities and appreciations” as outlined in the criteria. Kids will be smug that they know stuff before Res does. There are similar instances in Violet and Jobie in the Wild. Both Warga and Perkins show their knowledge of kids’ understandings, appreciations and abilities. Both also have short chapters — so important for the targeted age group, most of whom are snatching reading minutes here and there.
This book was fantastic defently one of my favorites. The reason I like this book so much is the setting and characters are done so well. You really get to see how Res thinks and feels. Though Res is a robot he almost feels human. Jasmine Warga is able to convey that human emotion withine the character. I think this book would appeal a lot to kids and possibly get some interested in science careers. Well written defently a top choice for Newbery.
I love Jasmine Warga’s writing because she writes such powerful things. A Rover’s Story kind of missed the mark for me. Once Res gets to Mars the setting is beautiful, but that doesn’t even happen until 100 pages in. I would have loved to see more of Res in Mars.
The letters from Sophie were weird to. Is it realistic to believe that this girl was still writing letters to a robot when she was in high school or college? The letters from older Sophie sound pretty much the same as when she was younger too, so it’s hard to see how she has grown.