​Book of the Year
The Martian by Andy Weir
​
​Genre: Science Fiction, Published: 2011
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and alone with no way to signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?
The Other Final Contenders:
The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro
The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
Euphoria by Lily King
TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
Additional Readings
Kickoff 2016: The U. S. Space Program with Lester Gerhardt
​Lester Gerhardt, engineer, RPI professor, and an expert on space exploration, blasted off Season 5 of TTOB! He presented a fascinating program featuring the development and amazing successes of the U. S. Space Program detailing his personal involvement. The enthusiastic audience of adults and children responded with thought provoking questions.  He ended with the question most critical to readers of this year’s winning book, The Martian: “When will we travel to Mars?”
“Science fiction does not exist.
​It is only a matter of time. It is all doable.”

​Robot Demonstration followed by THE MARTIAN movie starring Matt Damon
Picture
An interesting future lies ahead for these bright, young minds
Students from Shenendehowa’s first Aerospace Science class demonstrated robots they constructed! They impressed an appreciative audience with their robotic expertise. “It is scary how smart theses kids are,” whispered one audience member.
Picture
Kids tried out the robots the Shen students constructed

​Gardening 101 in Changing Times with Sue Beebe
​Mark Watney’s botanical and gardening expertise was critical to his survival on Mars. Sue Beebe, from Cornell Cooperative Extension, encouraged community members to relax and enjoy the fruits of their labor with a discussion on proper conditions for Earth gardens and yards while supporting the environment.

​Books & Lunch 2016
Andy Weir, author of The Martian, first published this year’s Two Towns-One Book (TTOB) Community Read as a blog on his website!  Community readers joined us for lunch, raffles, “Kids Read, Too!” challenge, and a fascinating Panel Discussion on Blogging!

​Our Panel:
Peter Bardunias,  President/CEO at The Chamber of Southern Saratoga County
Janine Camaratta, Local author and blogger
Keith Willis, Local author and blogger
Mary Paez Carrier, Digital Services Trainer, CPH Library
See More Events to Revisit