The Night the Martians Landed: Just the Facts (Plus the Rumors) About Invaders from Mars

by Kathleen Krull, Christopher Santoro (Illustrations)

On the night before Halloween, 1938, that's what people all over the country heard coming over their radios -- an announcement that a glowing yellow spacecraft had crashed in New Jersey. When the announcer went on to describe an alien covered in tentacles that came wiggling out of it, the entire country panicked! What most Americans didn't know was that this emergency broadcast wasn't real -- it was a radio play, performed by actors, based on the H. G. Wells science-fiction novel The War of the Worlds. Aliens hadn't landed in New Jersey that night. There was no spacecraft.

80 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2003

Reviews

[Amy]

Tells the story of that night, October 30, 1938, when some believed Martians had landed in the USA because of a radio broadcast by Mercury Theatre Players with Orson Welles based on H.G. Wells The War of the Worlds. Extra details and facts. Explores why some believed and what they did.
Human nature makes us want to believe we are not alone in the universe. p. 53
Most people's reaction to the unknown is fear. p. 54
Radio is actually better for fright than TV--the pictures in your mind are scarier than anything anyone else can show you. And fear produces a body chemical called adrenaline, which in times of stress makes it difficult to think clearly. p. 54
website recommendations including how to listen to the broadcast

[Kyle]

It is a pretty easy read. I really liked it because it was funny.