Skip to main content

Other Worlds (Guys Read)

By
Other Worlds (Guys Read)
edited by Jon Scieszka
Walden Pond Press, 2013.  331 pgs. Fiction

     Fourth in Jon Scieszka's Guys Read series, Other Worlds is the finest of the four, with fantasy and sci-fi stories from Rick Riordan, Neal Shusterman, Shannon Hale, Tom Angleberger, and the master himself, Ray Bradbury, among others. Tom Angleberger, as one might expect, weighs in with a very funny story about the revolt of automated footwear (alas, the RoboFlipFlops were exterminated in the skirmish that followed). In Eric Nylund's "The Warlord's of Recess," two basketball-challenged nerds battle invaders from outer space, and Rick Riordan takes Percy and Grover to New York to retrieve one of Apollo's backup singers. Other Worlds has its serious, and even frightening side, as well with Kenneth Oppel's chilling "The Klack Bros. Museum," about a ghost whose keeper wants him to have company, or Neal Shusterman's tale of a resettlement expedition to another planet which is intended to do something very different from what the settlers expect. Guys Read is an initiative to create short fiction boys will love to read--this book does that in spades, and not just for boys.
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
February 4, 2014 at 1:03 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Fowl Play

By
  Fowl Play By Kristin O'Donnell Tubb New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2024. Fiction 277 pages. Still reeling from her beloved uncle's death, Chloe Alvarez is comforted and confused when at his last will and testament reading, Uncle Will gifts her his African Grey parrot, Charlie. Charlie has a robust vocabulary and loves to make Alexa requests for her favorite songs, but when she starts saying things like, "homicide," and "cyanide," Chloe becomes convinced that Uncle Will may have met his demise by murder instead of a genetic disease, as was previously thought. Ultimately, bringing in her brother, Grammy, and Uncle Frank (and of course Charlie,) Chloe's ragtag and adoring family support her search for answers ---going on stakeouts, engaging in fast pursuits, and searching for clues. But as the suspects stack up and the mystery grows, Chole will learn that the process of death and grieving is complicated, and in the end her Uncle Will's words that, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: A Game of Noctis

By
A Game of Noctis By Deva Fagan New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2024. Fiction. 310 pages. On the island of Dantessa, social standings and wealth are determined by your place in the Great Game. If you keep on winning, you can reap treasures, power, and security for yourself and your family; but if you lose too many games, you'll be exiled to Pawn Island and a life of servitude. That's what happens to 12-year-old Pia's grandfather. Due to poor vision, he struggles to see the games, but also can't afford new eyeglasses without winning. When his score falls to zero, he is sent away. Desperate to bring him back, Pia joins a ragtag group of misfits to form a team for the annual game of Noctis. The game requires contestants to perform dangerous challenges in front of a live audience, and no one outside the wealthy Diamond District has ever won. Each member of Pia's team, the Seafoxes, has their own reason to compete, but if they're going to win they'll h...
Post a Comment
Read more