Offering just the right amount of imagination, humor, and contemporary nuances to engage young readers, this is a must-have...
A diverse collection of futuristic stories set within contemporary emotional landscapes, tailor-made for millennials.
Each author offers a distinct vision of what life may be like for teens of the future, from life on Mars to living with robots and having aliens for best friends. Authors interweave these plots with delicate true-to-life situations including coping with the divorce of one’s parents and losing a parent, themes that let readers know that with all of the wonder and possibility that future technology might bring, parents that live on Mars still get divorced, and human beings still die of cancer. Dianna Sanchez presents the story of a young Latina born into an agrarian Martian family who visits her extended relatives on drought-ridden Earth for the first time. Mike Barretta imagines a high school biology project that genetically modifies a live chicken egg into a dragon. Adding a dash of humor, R.W.W. Greene brilliantly depicts what a space-age timeout might look like. Other authors include Nancy Kress, Zach Shephard, Deborah Walker, Eric Choi, and Leandra Wallace, and more. This collection of short science fiction is an ideal entrée to the genre for neophytes, as it’s not laden with heavy doses of technological jargon or larded with dystopian violence.
Offering just the right amount of imagination, humor, and contemporary nuances to engage young readers, this is a must-have in science-fiction collections serving middle graders and teens. (Science fiction/short stories. 10-16)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-940924-21-2
Page Count: 420
Publisher: Dreaming Robot
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.
If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?
For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
Not as strong as the series opener, but the space battles galore will satisfy returning fans.
Lunar Jones and Dread the dragon rally the Dread Knights to defend Mars from attack by Triton, the dragon from Neptune’s largest moon.
About a year has passed since 14-year-old Lunar Jones became a dragoon and bonded with Dread, the planetary dragon of Mars. In this second series entry, Mars is now productive and again accepting Earthers as settlers, while Lunar adjusts to being in a leadership role, despite being younger than most of those he commands and “responsible for protecting all of Mars.” Proctor (strategy), Doc (programming), Little Will (lead scout), and Mara (who’s nicknamed “Wildcard”) reprise their crucial roles, while the story is fleshed out with other familiar faces, a batch of new recruits, and dragoons and dragons from throughout the solar system. Upon the approach of unknown vessels into Mars’ atmosphere, Lunar and Dread recall uncomfortable rumors about hostility from Neptune’s dragons, and the battles begin. Lunar narrates most chapters; occasional sections are told from Proctor’s point of view. A whiff of romantic attraction doesn’t impede the nonstop action, and the epilogue points to more entries to come. The dragon backstory holds together, although several innovations that appear at just the right time and support healing or offer battle advantages feel like overly easy solutions. Most humans present white.
Not as strong as the series opener, but the space battles galore will satisfy returning fans. (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781665946544
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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