Love, Ish Hardcover – March 14, 2017

This book really fascinated me! Mischa Love, or Ish for short, Isn't like other girls. Instead of wanting to be a singer or fashion designer, she wants to be the first girl on Mars! She signs up for applications on Mars Now and has read The Martian multiple times. But when disaster strikes, will she still make it to the Red Planet someday?

To Mischa "Ish" Love, Mars is more than some nearby planet that humans will someday make their way to, it's her future. She's spent her life learning about, planning for, and getting ready for Mars. She's sent in 47 applications to the Mars Now project, but whenever they respond, it's a "no." Even when her best friend and partner in her Mars passion moves to Portland, Ish continues to see the Red Planet as her fate. Then it's the first day of seventh grade, and she collapses. Her life flips as she is diagnosed with a brain tumor or as she calls it, a Nirgal. Frequent dreams about Mars keep Ish wondering what is truly reality as she fights to keep her future in view. She begins to see life in a different way, never knowing what's next and what she should have done.As a reader, you also don't know what's going to happen next. Ish is collapsing, she's in the hospital, she's out of it, she's dreaming. And yet it isn't only a book to read for the plot, it's also a book to read for the deep concepts it holds. It really gets into Ish's head, showing every thought. The strange things, the mind-bending/interesting ideas, the humor, and even the incredibly sad things. It's filled with her thoughts about love, fear, life and death. It makes you re-think what's believable, possible, or real. Despite all that, it isn't an incredibly hard read, it just gets your mind thinking. The paperback book is 284 pages long, including an author Q&A. I suggest the book primarily to readers eleven or older. Younger kids could read it, but many parts are very sad and there are a lot of concepts and metaphors that are important to understand, so it depends on the person. Even now I question what some of the parts really meant. It can make you sad or scared and sometimes it may touch your emotions and thoughts in ways that not everyone might like. For this reason and because the book is largely about Ish fighting cancer, I would think about whether you like this type of book before reading it. I give Love, Ish 5 stars because it made me think twice about what I read and ventures into really interesting topics that many novels don't bring up, sometimes really sad ones. I see Mars in a new way after reading Love, Ish. I learned a lot about the Red Planet from reading it. If you're up for a sad, yet hopeful and thoughtful novel, then I suggest Love, Ish.Camille J, age 12, Los Angeles Mensa

This book is very well written, and yet I had some conflicting perspective. Ish is a strong, intelligent girl, marching to her own drummer, which in her case, was an almost obsessive beacon call to be a settler on Mars.. I love books about strong girls who don't feel the need to conform, but they need to be happy with who they are, and I thought Ish was desperately unhappy, beyond the normal angst of a twelve year old girl. I felt her burning desire to live on Mars as hiding the fact that she felt she had nothing at all here on Earth, no real family relationships, no friends except the absent Tig, etc. I wondered why, when she went on at length about how humans had destroyed Earth, and moving to other planets necessary for human survival, she didn't consider that Mars would eventually have the same fate. It was such a shame that she didn't feel love and feel loved until she got to Mars. Ish's sister Elliott wasn't really well written. It was unclear whether she had some real emotional disorder or just being a difficult 14 year old, with the added traumatic disruption of finding out about the adoption. Much of Elliott's anger seemed to be directed at Ish, even after the diagnosis, and the parents did nothing about it. Also thought it was a little odd that Ish's oldest sister Iris, who was supposed to be so nice and kind and loving, after learning Ish's diagnosis, didn't come home to see her for weeks, and almost too late.I am just glad dear Ish is enjoying her life on her beautiful Mars, with her friends and her parrot! Loved how she saw him "fly by her window, glowing like the moon."

Love, Ish is easily one of the best books I've ever read. The voice, the characters, the blend of dreams and reality, the emotional scope...all are written to perfection. This book is impossible to put down, and Ish is impossible not to love. Hats (helmets?) off to Karen Rivers.

My daughter and I loved this story as a read aloud. It was very sad, but also very well-written. We loved meeting Ish!

Mischa, otherwise know as “Ish,” is fascinated with Mars. She plans on being one of the first people to live on Mars. Her best friend, and Mars partner in crime, Tig, moved away and ceased all contact with her. Ish cannot understand how he can just stop their friendship. Ish cannot understand why, just because she is a girl, no one believes her Mars dreams will come true. Ish cannot understand the other kids her age at school. But the one thing Ish does understand, and will always understand, is Mars. Even when cancer enters her life. When I received this ARC, I read the first couple of pages out of curiosity, even though I was in the middle of another book. After those first few pages, I knew I would have to finish, LOVE ISH before I could come back to the other book. The voice of the main character, Ish, captivated me immediately and drew me in. I wanted to get to know Ish better. I couldn’t stop and read the book in two sittings. Anyone, especially girls/women who love science, will love Ish. Anyone who has ever felt a little bit different will adore Ish. Ish is someone you must get to know. Author, Karen Rivers, knows how to get you wrapped up in a character’s life. A great book for any intermediate/middle-grade classroom or child.

Lyrical, magical, compelling. Ish is a character that will live on in readers’ hearts. My daughter and I read it together, and she declared it her favourite book.