Chronicle of the Dark Star #1: Last Day on Mars by Kevin Emerson

My name is Liam, and we needed to leave Mars before the sun went supernova, killing all living things in the solar system. Phoebe and I were scheduled to board the last ship, but our parents needed to finish some key experiments first. We climbed to the surface to open some vents for the lab when a powerful explosion rocked the planet. Phoebe and I discovered a huge structure that mysteriously no one had seen before. It's becoming apparent that alien lifeforms have visited Mars and someone, or something, is trying to sabotage the mission. I found an alien bracelet that allows me to briefly travel into the future, and what I've seen is disturbing. The adults will not believe me, so it's up to Phoebe and I to save hundreds of millions of human lives.

This book was a finalist for the 2017 Cybils Award in Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction. The second half of the book was full of adventure, mystery, and action. The author introduced characters plotting the elimination of all humankind, but there was another character Liam met during his visions into the future. This person's motives were less clear. There were secret terrorist threats along with combat between characters, and the result was an exciting build-up to the climax. My biggest concern for this book was the first third of the book slowly moved along before developing any tension. It was clear the inhabitants needed to leave the planet within hours, but there was no sense of urgency until the explosion in the lab. Also, this novel is book one of a series, and the conclusion felt like it. A couple of conflicts were left to be resolved in the sequel.