Synopsis
From humor to drama to fiction, a cutting-edge collection of stories from such authors as Rodman Philbrick, Lois Lowry, and Tor Seidler explores the future with such diverse themes as love, hate, the environment, disease, and the fate of the human race.
Reviews
Grade 6-10-An exceptional collection. Despite their different writing styles, the 10 stories pull together as a cohesive whole with not a lightweight selection in the bunch. In his introduction, Cart writes, "For a writer's imagination the future is especially tantalizing," but Jon Scieszka takes readers back in time to eavesdrop on a humorous millennium party-one that might have occurred on the evening of December 31, 33001 B.C.E. Rodman Philbrick jumps ahead in "The Last Book in the Universe" to a future that is a cross between A Clockwork Orange and Fahrenheit 451, to show readers an affirmation of life amid the harsh reality of a time when brutality rules, no one reads, and no one remembers. Gloria Skurzynski's allegory of Cain and Abel demonstrates that teenage siblings can suffer from horrible envy, even while living on Mars. Other authors represented include Katherine Paterson, James Cross Giblin, Ron Koertge, Lois Lowry, Tor Seidler, and Jacqueline Woodson. A brief author's commentary follows each story, and an appendix presents biographical information. The attractive (well, to teens) cover art of a spaceship shoulder tattoo will reel readers in, and the stories will net them, hook, line, and sinker.
Susan R. Farber, Greenburgh Public Library, Elmsford, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The title may suggest a science-fiction collection, but the stories gathered here reflect an intriguingly wide array of genres. Working with a common theme, "visions of times to come," 10 noted contemporary authors offer diverse and often resonant interpretations; their characters ponder the fate of the universe, the human race or their individual selves. While some of the selections depict colorful (or startlingly bleak) images of the next millennium, others are set in the past. Jon Scieszka serves up a satire starring the first Homo sapiens, while James Cross Giblin imagines a young monk anticipating the end of the first millennium. Other selections are set in the present or near present. Jacqueline Woodson's protagonist, a modern-day, fatherless child, wistfully relates how she is the embodiment of her mother's dream of the future. Lois Lowry shows how an elderly man's image of the future turns sour when his land (which the government has promised to preserve) becomes a prison grounds. Ranging from joyfully optimistic to darkly ironic in tone, these imaginative writings should capture the target audience. Ages 11-up. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Jon Scieszka, Rodman Philbrick, Tor Seidler, Gloria Skurzynski, Ron Koertge, Lois Lowry, Katherine Paterson, Jacqueline Woodson, James Cross Giblin, and editor Cart "create their personal, very individual visions of times to come" in stories written especially for this anthology. Sally Estes
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