Barbara A. Brennan

A good collection of various science fiction and science nonfiction stories, articles and poems. Some of the stories are classics and some of the authors renown masters of science fiction, some of the stories and authors are more obscure. The formatting was a bit strange, with some of the stories/poems/articles being accompanied by mini-biographies of the appropriate authors and others without. The editor in charge of the footnote dictionaries did a horrible disservice to student readers. It told the subjective meaning of the word in question, rather than the definition (i.e. they told the reader the metaphorical meaning as the author intended it, rather than the literal meaning which would have allowed the readers to explore the intended meaning themselves).… (mer)

"Staying Alive" - A horribly dated poem sharing poor advice about staying alive in the wild (Don't follow streams? Don't be afraid to fall asleep in sub-freezing weather? WTF?)

"Mississippi Solo" - A Mildly interesting short story about Mississippi water travel and the hardships/banality of it.

"In Response to Executive Order 9066" - A sad poem about a young boy getting shipped off to a Japanese Internment camp. A little girl, his friend, thinks he's a traitor to the country. But he has faith she'll realize the truth.

"La Bamba" - Stereotypical 1990's cultural peace.

"Life Doesn't Frighten Me" - A Cute poem that reminds me of a witty children's poet my mother loves...I can't remember his name, though.

"I, Hungry Hannah Cassandra Glen" - An interesting look at the other side of weight and hunger. In this short story, we follow two kids who worm their way into the after-"party" for a funeral for the sole purpose of getting food, real food, instead of the re-hydrated milk and old jams that they're used to. It's a cute story and I like the ending

"To Build a Fire" - I didn't realize this was Jack London until after I had read it. It isn't my first Jack London short story, but it's the first that truly spoke to me. London is incredible at capturing emotions: both in humans and in animals. His compassion and respect for animals is admirable as well. And let me tell you, that man can work your imagination! I was moderately cold when I started the story; I felt like I was freezing when it ended!

"Pandora's Box" - This was a dramatization of a nurse's tour in Vietnam. It was very simple and straightforward, but I had to fight back tears.… (mer)