172 Hours on the Moon Review

172 Hours on the Moon
Johan Harstad
April 17th 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Goodreads

It's been decades since anyone set foot on the moon. Now three ordinary teenagers, the winners of NASA's unprecedented, worldwide lottery, are about to become the first young people in space--and change their lives forever.

Mia, from Norway, hopes this will be her punk band's ticket to fame and fortune.

Midori believes it's her way out of her restrained life in Japan.

Antoine, from France, just wants to get as far away from his ex-girlfriend as possible.

It's the opportunity of a lifetime, but little do the teenagers know that something sinister is waiting for them on the desolate surface of the moon. And in the black vacuum of space... no one is coming to save them.

172 Hours on the Moon. Thanks, Mr. Harstad. You freaked me out pretty well.  I used to think if I could just somehow get off this planet and into outer space, imagine the greatness of space and the infinite possibilities of what could happen.  When I was younger, I thought I might want to be an astronaut, but then I grew up and saw the big suits, how they had to go to the bathroom (so not going to happen), and the incredible pressure astronauts were under as the rockets blasted into space. I have since rethought my dream and decided to go with reading about kids who were able to travel to space. A much better dream, especially after finishing 172 Hours on the Moon.

172 Hours on the Moon is the story of Antoine, Mia, and Midori, three teenagers who are chosen to be part of a mission to the moon. They are chosen as part of a contest put on by NASA and spend a week on a moon base named DARLAH2.  Each of the three teenagers has his or her own reasons for signing up: parents’ demands, dreams of a new future, or to forget the past. Once on the moon they will encounter something NASA did not prepare them for because something is on the moon.  NASA did not want anyone to know about, so they lied to the astronauts, the public, and the teenagers. They lied to the public about why they were sending a mission back to the moon. So now the questions are: What exactly is out on the moon? and Can the crew make it back to Earth alive, or are they doomed?

This novel is intense, shiver inducing, and makes me peek around the corner, and it should be your next YA read. 172 Hours on the Moon was a novel I had to read constantly.  I read in the morning for five minutes before leaving for work, at lunch, when I got home, and before I went to bed. I think the best thing about 172 Hours on the Moon is the way you, as the reader, know something is going to happen on the moon, and you know the teens and the crew don't know it's coming, so you are even more hyperaware of what is going to happen.  I love books like this!

Lagniappe

Don't you want to go to the moon?