Project Terra: Crash Course

Walker, Landry Q. Project Terra: Crash Course
September 19th 2017 by Penguin Workshop
ARC provided by publisher

Elara has always wanted to be a part of the Seven Systems School of Terraforming Sciences and Arts, and is thrilled to be traveling from her far flung farming planet to the well regarded school. While she does run into some snobby fellow students (like Suue, who was bioengineered to be a mathematical genius), she also makes the acquaintance of Knot, a kind Grix girl, and her roommate Beezle, who is an Arcturiaan and shares a hive mind. Of course, the three run into trouble with headmistress Nebulina early on, but their destructive energies are channeled into special projects. There are lots of adventures, some intrigue, and a mystery that has to be solved. Elara and her friends take on all of these challenges happily. The book is the start of a purported series.
Strengths: The Penguin Workshop books are great because they embrace popular STEM topics AND have a fair amount of pictures along with the text. Elara is a fun character, and her determination to succeed at terraforming is admirable. This was a perfect length, filled with action, and the book was nicely formatted.
Weaknesses: This could have used more information about what terraforming entails. Many students will never have heard of this. The plot, setting, and characters all felt very derivative to me, but 12-year-olds won't draw parallels between this, other books, and the original Star Trek series.
What I really think: I will purchase this series, and it will be great for readers who are just starting to be interested in science fiction but aren't ready for something as long as McDougall's Mars Evacuees or Emerson's Last Day on Mars.