Independent Reading Suggested Books for Exploring Mars
See our Independent Reading for Elementary Students Teacher Tool for guidance on how to use the suggested texts below.
Fiction Texts with Connecting Topics and Themes
- Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation by Stuart Gibbs (850L)
- Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce (670L)
- Last Day on Mars (Chronicle of the Dark Star #1) by Kevin Emerson (811L)
- Space Case (Moon Base Alpha #1) by Stuart Gibbs (750L)
- The Countdown Conspiracy by Katie Slivensky (700L)
- The Lion of Mars by Jennifer L. Holm (530L)
- The Neptune Project by Polly Holyoke (810L)
Informational Texts to Build Content Knowledge
- Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover by Markus Motum (970L)
- Curiosity’s Mission on Mars: Exploring the Red Planet by Ron Miller (1140L)
- Hidden Figures (Young Readers’ Edition) by Margot Lee Shetterly (1120L) **
- Impact!: Asteroids and the Science of Saving the World by Elizabeth Rusch and Karin Anderson (1070L)
- Mission to Pluto: The First Visit to an Ice Dwarf and the Kuiper Belt by Mary Kay Carson (940L)
- Mysterious Universe: Supernovae, Dark Energy, and Black Holes by Ellen Jackson and Nic Bishop
- Reaching for the Moon: The Autobiography of NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson by Katherine Johnson (1040L)
- The 10 Greatest Breakthroughs in Space Exploration by Julie Clark (IG960L)
- The Amazing Story of Space Travel by Agniesezka Biskup (GN800L)
* lower Lexile or qualitative measures than core text.
** higher Lexile or qualitative measures than core text.
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