The novel “Podkayne of Mars” by Robert A. Heinlein was published for the first time between November 1962 and March 1963 in the magazine “Worlds of If” (also known simply as “If”) and as a book in 1963.

In the future the Moon, Mars and Venus have been colonized. Podkayne “Poddy” Fries is a teenager who lives on Mars with her parents and her younger brother. By mistake the remaining three family embryos fertilized in vitro and frozen are developed and be born. Not only the Fries find themselves with three babies to look after but have to cancel the planned trip to Earth.

Luckily for Podkayne her uncle Tom is a senator so he can arm-twist the clinic that caused the mess with the babies into paying his niece and nephew a trip that not only brings them to visit Earth, but Venus as well under his care.

Despite the problems created by her brother Clark, who is very intelligent but with sociopathic tendencies, Podkayne lives the adventure of her dreams but on Venus her family ends up involved in a quite dangerous interplanetary political game.

For years Robert A. Heinlein published juveniles. This phase culminated with “Citizen of the Galaxy” in 1957 and went on with “Have Space Suit—Will Travel” in 1958 but the next year his publisher refused “Starship Troopers” considering it inappropriate for young readers.

Robert A. Heinlein started having problems with publishers because basically he had decided to write what he wanted and not what he was asked by editors. “Podkayne of Mars” is sometimes considered one of his juveniles but actually it differs from that kind of novel: the protagonist is a teenager however the topics discussed in the novel are quite adult, including the possibility that Podkayne has an intimate encounter with a boy, a topic which at the time of its publication was too bold for a juvenile.

Originally Robert A. Heinlein gave the novel a dramatic ending and this was too much for the publisher, who demanded a rewriting of the last pages to tone it down. Some newer editions of the novel include both endings.

Eventually “Podkayne of Mars” is a kind of juvenile adapted to an audience a bit more mature than teenagers because it’s written like a juvenile, with a teenager discoverying the universe. The structure of that kind novel suits Robert A. Heinlein because he can be as didactic as ever. Personally I find that the more the author is interested in giving us his life teachings the less he’s interested in the quality of the plot.

The ideas expressed by Heinlein in his novels, especially in “Starship Troopers”, keep on being discussed after decades. As a young man the author considered himself a liberal despite having always shown his patriotism and admiration for the military life – he had been in the Navy but was discharged due to a tuberculosis – but over time he became more and more conservative. The consequence is that even in the same novel his ideas aren’t always entirely consistent.

In “Podkayne of Mars” there are some typical Robert A. Heinlein’s elements: an absolute refusal of all forms of racism can be seen because the protagonist’s family is of mixed ethnicities in an age when novels heroes were usually white.

The main character is a female and is a clever and resourceful girl, a fact unusual in science fiction at the time. Robert A. Heinlein was often inspired by his wife Virginia in creating characters of strong women in his novels. In “Podkayne of Mars” Heinlein however he also argued that a woman’s place is at home raising her children and if Clark has sociopathic tendencies it’s especially his mother’s fault as she cares more about her job.

Eventually Podkayne ends up being a bit annoying in the way she expresses what are actually Heinlein’s ideas and Clark ends up being the character I find the most likeable.

Using the form of Podkayne’s diary, except for the end told by Clark, Robert A. Heinlein presents his ideas but also tells an interplanetary journey, inspired by his own travels across the Earth seas. The story however takes into account the peculiarities and dangers of space travel in considerable details considering the time the novel was written.

Where “Podkayne of Mars” is inevitably outdated is in the descriptions of Mars and Venus: they’re quite vague but include the existence of native living beings including the ancient Martian civilization.

“Podkayne of Mars” isn’t the best novel by Robert A. Heinlein but surely his fans will like it. Instead people who don’t particularly appreciate this author can leave it.