Official Review: "I Have a Friend on Jupiter!&am...

[miztree46]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of ""I Have a Friend on Jupiter!"" by Celine Rose Mariotti.]

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I Have a Friend on Jupiter follows the lives of two 12 year olds, Carlos Montega and Indiana Balmacher. At the beginning of the story, Carlos finds an interesting website on the internet. The web page invited him to sign up to communicate with pen pals who live on Jupiter. Carlos’ friend, Indiana, tells him that she does not think the site is real but Carlos explains why he thinks the web site is legitimate. The two friends wrote e-mails to their Jupiternarian pen pals and eagerly wait for a reply. Did Carlos and Indiana really receive a message from outer space? If your curiosity has been sparked, then you should read I Have a Friend on Jupiter to find the answer.

The main themes in this book deal with belief and friendship. These topics are explored as Carlos and Indiana search for the truth about the mysterious website. After Carlos and Indiana receive a response from their pen pals, they work to find out if the e-mails were real. In the beginning of the story friends keep the fact that they are communicating with aliens a secret, but eventually they go to an expert to find out if their new friends really exist.

As the story is told from the third person point of view, a lot of information is given about the lives of the main characters. Carlos and Indiana have similar backgrounds. Both children live in New Mexico, and live on ranches. In addition to sharing a love for searching the internet, the children share a close friendship with each other and have similar interest in addition to their shared enthusiasm about the possibility that they may receive messages from Jupiter. Unfortunately the children have suffered devastating losses in their lives, but their friendship and shared interests have helped them overcome these challenges.

The writing style in I Have a Friend on Jupiter is straightforward. The author gives elementary school students some information about the history of the space program in the United States. There are detailed facts about Jupiter, space exploration, and how scientists explore space. The book not only uses this information to teach children, but also encourages children to enhance their writing skills and stretch their imaginations.

This 111 page work of fiction has a few very important messages. The main message of the book states that children should confirm information before they believe certain things. In this case, the author created her story to teach children that it’s important to check with adults before they believe what is on the internet. One thing a child can do to reinforce and practice this idea is to verify the information in this book by comparing it with information from a reliable websites. Many readers will also appreciate one of the other the messages in this book, which shows that it is important for adults to listen to children.

The book was pretty predictable but it was evident that the author mainly intended to inspire children to learn about outer space. In fact Mariotti states in the foreword of her book that she was inspired to write this story because of lifelong fascination with outer space and NASA’s space program.

I give I Have a Friend on Jupiter 3 out of 4 stars. I thought this was a cute story, but the book did have a few flaws. Sometimes the children spoke as if they were adults, and at times the dialogue was little bit artificial. There were also a few noticeable typos and grammatical errors.

If you have a child who enjoys reading fantasy books about aliens, then he or she may enjoy reading I Have a Friend on Jupiter. This story can also be read by children to reinforce the lessons that they have learned in school about space and space exploration. I would recommend this book to children who aspire to become astronauts or want to participate in the space industry. It is more than likely that they will also enjoy reading this book.

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[Kappy]

Excellent, thorough review. Friendship is among my favorite themes in fiction. But this sounds like SF rather than fantasy (of course, there is no sharp dividing line between the two).

[bookowlie]

Great review! Although I am not a huge science fiction fan, the plot sounds really good! That's interesting that the author has had a lifetime interest in outer space and the NASA program. I always like finding out about an author's inspiration.