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One Small Step...
A short story from BEGIN, END, A #LOVEOZYA ANTHOLOGY. This story explosions, the first person born on Mars, a greenhouse, two girls, a small tree called Horace, kissing, difficult decisions about what to do after school, action sequences, and that awkward moment when you try to figure out if your best friend is into you.
23 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 24, 2017
2 people are currently reading
534 people want to read
About the author
Amie Kaufman
37 books13.3k followersAmie Kaufman is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of young adult fiction. Her multi-award winning work is slated for publication in over 30 countries, and is in development for film and TV. Raised in Australia and occasionally Ireland, Amie has degrees in history, literature, law and conflict resolution. She lives in Melbourne with her husband and daughter, their rescue dog, and an extremely large personal library. She is the host of the podcasts Amie Kaufman on Writing, and Pub Dates.
You can sign up for her newsletter to see what she's working on, hear when she releases a new book, and be automatically entered for giveaways: https://amiekaufman.substack.com/
You can sign up for her newsletter to see what she's working on, hear when she releases a new book, and be automatically entered for giveaways: https://amiekaufman.substack.com/
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 8, 2021
I was in a world of hurry up, when all I wanted to do was slow down.
Zaida is a Martian. She's the first human born on Mars after a colony was set up there. So naturally all the people on Mars as well billions of people on Earth are interested in her life and all the activities each day. She makes video logs to keep everyone up to date each day. Now, she's got her college letter for Harvard and her parents want her to go back to Earth to study. All her life Zaida has been told what to do and what is expected from her but what does she want?
'Everyone wants us to decide what to be right now, to know what path we want to start down, what path we'll stick to for the rest of our lives. But we're seventeen.
Well, she wants to spend time with her best friend, Keiko and she also wants to tell Keiko that she likes her but doesn't because she doesn't want to ruin her friendship either. But when a life threatening incident happens and Zaida decides to change the way her life is and she takes a step towards a different approach.
The setup was quite unique in this story about a human Martian. But that's where the uniqueness stopped because the MC in this was no different than your average young adult (I know young adults can experience the same feelings and all no matter where they are but I would have liked to see something different here rather than just the setup). I am yet to decide whether it was a good or a bad thing. This was a sweet story otherwise about finding your place in the world/universe and dealing with your anxieties about sexuality, friendship, first love, expectations of others and college admittance.
3.5 stars
Zaida is a Martian. She's the first human born on Mars after a colony was set up there. So naturally all the people on Mars as well billions of people on Earth are interested in her life and all the activities each day. She makes video logs to keep everyone up to date each day. Now, she's got her college letter for Harvard and her parents want her to go back to Earth to study. All her life Zaida has been told what to do and what is expected from her but what does she want?
'Everyone wants us to decide what to be right now, to know what path we want to start down, what path we'll stick to for the rest of our lives. But we're seventeen.
Well, she wants to spend time with her best friend, Keiko and she also wants to tell Keiko that she likes her but doesn't because she doesn't want to ruin her friendship either. But when a life threatening incident happens and Zaida decides to change the way her life is and she takes a step towards a different approach.
The setup was quite unique in this story about a human Martian. But that's where the uniqueness stopped because the MC in this was no different than your average young adult (I know young adults can experience the same feelings and all no matter where they are but I would have liked to see something different here rather than just the setup). I am yet to decide whether it was a good or a bad thing. This was a sweet story otherwise about finding your place in the world/universe and dealing with your anxieties about sexuality, friendship, first love, expectations of others and college admittance.
3.5 stars
July 14, 2017
You can read this review and more at Angel Reads. This review is in Part 1 of my Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology review!
I've read three books by Amie Kaufman now and I just seem to enjoy everyone. I am not a massive science fiction fan. I read it every once and a while and most of the time I don't love the books. But I adored 'One Small Step...' And even though it is a short story, I still every much loved the characters.
'One Small Step ...' follows protagonist Zaida, the first person to be born on Mars. While time skips back and forth effortlessly, we see what happens to get her in a certain situation.
While there are time jumps, it isn’t hard to grasp when time skips or what is happening. Kaufman also did a fantastic job with world building in such a short amount of time. The world was easy to get to get a hold of and although it was a science fiction set in space, it’s quite unique.
I really liked the relationships explored throughout ‘One Small Step…’ From friendship to romantic. It was great to see both those relationship and character grow throughout.
‘One Small Step ...’ explores themes of family, friendship, and love. It’s about survival, finding yourself and not letting others decide for you.
I've read three books by Amie Kaufman now and I just seem to enjoy everyone. I am not a massive science fiction fan. I read it every once and a while and most of the time I don't love the books. But I adored 'One Small Step...' And even though it is a short story, I still every much loved the characters.
'One Small Step ...' follows protagonist Zaida, the first person to be born on Mars. While time skips back and forth effortlessly, we see what happens to get her in a certain situation.
While there are time jumps, it isn’t hard to grasp when time skips or what is happening. Kaufman also did a fantastic job with world building in such a short amount of time. The world was easy to get to get a hold of and although it was a science fiction set in space, it’s quite unique.
I really liked the relationships explored throughout ‘One Small Step…’ From friendship to romantic. It was great to see both those relationship and character grow throughout.
‘One Small Step ...’ explores themes of family, friendship, and love. It’s about survival, finding yourself and not letting others decide for you.
May 21, 2017
3.5 stars
This was cool! It's such a hot debated topic, could we colonise Mars? It's so much more than that to think of a successive generation on Mars and of a "Martian" travelling back to earth for college ... I reached the ending to my own bitter dismay. I wanted to know more!
This was cool! It's such a hot debated topic, could we colonise Mars? It's so much more than that to think of a successive generation on Mars and of a "Martian" travelling back to earth for college ... I reached the ending to my own bitter dismay. I wanted to know more!
October 6, 2019
[I am using this as a placeholder for Memento by: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, because that is apparently not on Goodreads]. This was downright chilling and I loved it. I’m always so impressed by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff’s work. I love that we get a chance to see Aidan undamaged, because that’s not really something we get to see in the main series. It was surreal seeing the exact moment Aidan went off the rails and the moments that led up to it. As soon as Olivia started explaining the trolley problem to Aidan, I was like Nooooooo! It was terrifying to see that switch in Aidan from machine tasked with keeping everyone safe to near human-like being that thinks it gets to decide who lives and who dies and what’s best for everyone. Considering that, as far as I’m aware, this was solely part of a preorder campaign and it’s not something you can just go out and buy, I am extremely grateful to have this. I’m so grateful that I got this little extra peek into this world. It was just pure magic and I’m so happy this exists.
March 30, 2021
A fab short story about a girl born on Mars and the future ahead. Heart-wrenching, even in just a few short pages.
November 19, 2017
(This review was part of my full review on the Begin End Begin anthology)
Okay but this was a pretty incredible way to kick off the stories - first kid born on Mars and the decisions she has to make about her future. It featured a super super cute F/F romance, and a lil bit of action and science to round it out. I liked how diverse the world on Mars was, while also being a pretty realistic and limited space colony.
I think one of my favourite parts, outside of the very very cute relationship, was the media attention? I think that's pretty much exactly how we'd act to a kid born on Mars, and I liked that she both appreciate and resented the attention. It was a pretty sweet way to ground the story while keeping it also, well, not on Earth.
Really need to read more of Amie's stuff if this is anything to go by (and not just cause our names are kinda close). I only wish the time shifts had been a little clearer, cause I think I kept missing them and that made the story confusing af at first.
Okay but this was a pretty incredible way to kick off the stories - first kid born on Mars and the decisions she has to make about her future. It featured a super super cute F/F romance, and a lil bit of action and science to round it out. I liked how diverse the world on Mars was, while also being a pretty realistic and limited space colony.
I think one of my favourite parts, outside of the very very cute relationship, was the media attention? I think that's pretty much exactly how we'd act to a kid born on Mars, and I liked that she both appreciate and resented the attention. It was a pretty sweet way to ground the story while keeping it also, well, not on Earth.
Really need to read more of Amie's stuff if this is anything to go by (and not just cause our names are kinda close). I only wish the time shifts had been a little clearer, cause I think I kept missing them and that made the story confusing af at first.
May 8, 2017
This is the second short story I've read in "Begin, End, Begin", and even though I didn't love it quite as much as the other story I read ("Competition Entry #349), I really did enjoy this one. Our main character Zaida isn't the most charming, but she doesn't have to be: she's the first girl born on Mars. I don't want to spoil anything, but I'm so impressed that Kaufman was able to fit so much world building, diversity, and LGBT themes into such a short story without making anything seem forced! SO excited to keep reading these stories!
July 25, 2019
Sci-fi short about a teenager on Mars who needs to decide what to do with her life.
It really is short, so there's only a couple of scenes, and what happens isn't particularly dramatic or ground-breaking. But I like how little Martian details are peppered naturally throughout: you get a real sense of what their day-to-day life feels like. Makes it really human / natural / relateable.
The story itself is sweet enough. It's just a snack, but I had fun reading it.
It really is short, so there's only a couple of scenes, and what happens isn't particularly dramatic or ground-breaking. But I like how little Martian details are peppered naturally throughout: you get a real sense of what their day-to-day life feels like. Makes it really human / natural / relateable.
The story itself is sweet enough. It's just a snack, but I had fun reading it.
June 2, 2017
One of the first pieces by Kaufman I've read where she doesn't collaborate with other authors and I am still pleasantly surprised by how well she writes and how interesting her plots are when they mostly have to do with space.
I was really scared this short story was going to break my heart but it ended so beautifully I want to know more!
I was really scared this short story was going to break my heart but it ended so beautifully I want to know more!
March 16, 2018
Interesting and original story.
I liked how the author combined different topics all in one short story, and managed to make it very engaging. The scene where the girl is trying to save her best friend adds drama and tension to the story.
Overall, it was a great quick read, and I am happy to have come upon this story.
I liked how the author combined different topics all in one short story, and managed to make it very engaging. The scene where the girl is trying to save her best friend adds drama and tension to the story.
Overall, it was a great quick read, and I am happy to have come upon this story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 7, 2021
I read this for honors English. It was alright, but the jumping back from present to past tense was confusing at times. The characters were alright, but did not interest me. Honestly, more of just a meh story my school told me to read.
May 27, 2017
I cry because this is too short and I love it and and anddddd I want moreeee!!
(yes i'm whining... I just really love it, can you tell?)
(yes i'm whining... I just really love it, can you tell?)
August 23, 2022
its gay and gay is cool
September 9, 2024
To no ones surprise at all, Amie Kaufman’s short stories are as good as her novels.
March 14, 2025
Kaufman #
Short story from Kaufman in an anthology of tales is a decent enough little yarn, but it does feel like it is a short story and doesn't really have much to say,
Short story from Kaufman in an anthology of tales is a decent enough little yarn, but it does feel like it is a short story and doesn't really have much to say,
September 27, 2021
3.5 is my rating 😁
May 30, 2019
Perhaps a bit too short for me to be invested in these characters.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews