What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

Sounds a little bit like Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet.

http://www.amazon.com/Stowaway-Mushro...

In this book, did a lot of people on Mars believe that Martians didn't exist, but the kids showed that they were just very shy, and hid in caves most of the time?

I kind of remember a book like I'm describing (and also, the humans are unwittingly hurting the Martians), but can't remember the title. Thought it might jog somebody's memory.

Hi Mike!
It might also be an old novel by Robert Silverberg called Lost Race of Mars (c1960).
Here's the summary from Worldcat:

A brother and sister search for the original Martians during the year their family lives on Mars.

I still have my copy of the Scholastic paperback, and the cover has the Martians coming out of a cave.

Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet is also good-- I read the whole series when I was a kid-- but for more of a juvenile rather than a YA audience.

Well, how about Red Planet: a Colonial Boy on Mars by Robert Heinlein (c1949)? Here's the plot summary from NoveList:
A young colonist on Mars befriends a strange round creature called Willis who gets him into trouble when he goes away to school, but whose presence and friendship finally enable the colonials to negotiate a treaty with the Martians.