Description
Like private schools back on Earth, the Crater School is primarily the preserve of the upper and middle classes. But the hinterlands of Mars are very rural. Farming the Red Planet is hard, and families rely on their children to help with the work. What, then, is a farming family to do with a girl like Mary Ellen who seems interested only in books, and who asks questions that her teachers are hard-pressed to answer?
Then, one day, a chance event changes Mary Ellen’s life. A famous author on a research trip visits her farm and spots her talent. An offer is made, a fully-paid scholarship to the famous Crater School. It seems like a dream come true. But dreams can easily turn into nightmares.
Advance Praise
“The Crater School series offers glorious nostalgia and escapism and old-fashioned plucky girl values From a Simpler Time, only without the racist/jingoistic undercurrents that usually accompany the original works. It’s like reading your childhood fave again, but without the constant fear of stubbing your toe on hidden rocks. And as such, I will take as many of these as the author can be persuaded to write.” — K J Charles
“We see Old Mars and the Crater School through an intriguingly different lens, as Mary Ellen, scholarship girl, finds herself in this alien environment. Thus Brenchley deftly offers fans of the series a fresh perspective while new readers share her discoveries and will surely be drawn into this fascinating world.” — Juliet E McKenna
“A joyous and nostalgic romp. Mars and the Chalet School were never closer.” — Gillian Polack
