Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this anthology. I love the concept of this series and the diversity of the stories included. I would have loved this as a kid.

These stories are all wonderful, for students AND adults! I wish that this anthology had been around when I was a child!!!

THE 2018 YOUNG EXPLORER’S ADVENTURE GUIDE edited by Sean and Corie Weaver is the fourth book in this annual anthology.

Containing 24 science fiction stories for middle grade readers, this short story collection includes a wide range of topics from robots to space travel. Many of the stories include diverse characters and connections to contemporary themes.

Librarians will find this anthology to be useful in introducing readers to new authors including both established writers along with newer authors. Of particular note are the many stories featuring female and diverse characters.

Published by Dreaming Robot Press on December 5, 2017. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Several excellent works with great ideas and world-building start off this fourth anthology of Young Explorers Adventures. One of them is from the respected author Nancy Kress, who is also quoted in the blurb on Net-Galley and the same quotes for this edition are used in blurbs for the earlier books in the series.

I really enjoyed the first six or so stories.  With the anthologies I've read recently, I've enjoyed being able to read a whole story in one sitting. I was also keen to get back and see what jewel awaited me next.  Somewhere along the line this anthology lost its sparkle.  There was nothing wrong with the last couple of stories I'd read, but nothing was pulling me back to the next one. It's possible that after the early, highly innovative stories, the ones in the middle were reminiscent of earlier plots or well-known worlds.  I can't put my finger on it; they were nicely written, but lacked the inventiveness of others. The last one to inspire me was the girl who lived in a mining ship that either was, or bore a distinct resemblance to, a squid.  I think it actually was a spacesquid. It was brilliant, with a well-told twist on an otherwise predictable plot.

Middle graders tend not to be too concerned with originality in plot.  That seems to be something craved by older readers - as in 'I didn't see that coming'.  For younger readers, the authorities recommend a safe outcome from a dangerous situation. So I'm not too concerned about that.  I was a little disappointed by stories set in the author's series worlds that really aimed to give you a taster for the series, rather than a self-contained story. That was a shame in one, in particular, where the protagonist had to decide between an operation which would lead her to years of servitude, or blindness and freedom.  I'd like to know how that worked out, but the protags didn't do it for me.

All in all, the idea of the anthology series is good, and there are excellent stories in this one.

I have not read the other Young Explorer's Adventure Guides, but this was a very refreshing and different anthology written by authors with varying experiences of writing. I love scifi, and as an adult, I was engrossed in these stories, There's sometimes humor or references to Earth life thrown in which ring true, and every story is different from the next. There's certainly a lot of action, adventure exploring and fun to be had within the pages of this book. Every story brings something to this anthology, and I was pleased to read work by authors who were all new to me.

The Great Broccoli Wifi Theft made for such a fun beginning, I was also taken by The Sting of the Irikundji, which was a fun and quirky tale. Nocturnal Noise was also brilliant. I liked the way that many of the stories touched on disability or another difficulty in life that the characters had. As. a person living with disabilities myself, I identified with them. i especially liked the author's portrayal of Amélie in Polaris in the Dark.

The anthology is great to read straight through, as I did, or to dip into whenever you like. I can see myself being interested in other volumes of the anthology if they are released in future years.
Overall, the book taught about families, aspects of disabilities and adventure. I'd recommend it to children and adults alike whether you are a scifi fan or not, because we can all learn something from it.

Thank you to all the participating authors and Dancing Robot Press for an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an. honest review.

Editors Sean and Corie Weaver have done yeoman’s work in compiling this wonderful anthology of science-fiction short stories sure to appeal to young explorers and older ones, too. This collection contains stories from writers of every experience level, be it newcomers, six-time Nebula winner Nancy Kress and everything in between.

Speaking of Kress, the book kicks off with her “The Great Broccoli Wi-Fi Theft,” a charming beginning. Other highlights include the offbeat “The Sting of the Irukandji” by Australian author Kristy Evangelista, “No Place Like” by newcomer William Wolfe, with its twist ending; the charming “Nocturnal Noise” by another newcomer, L.G. Keltner, and my favorite, “On the Lam on Luna” by Morgan Bliss. However, I enjoyed every single short story in this eclectic collection — a rarity with anthologies. Highly recommended.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Dreaming Robot Press in exchange for an honest review.

Great stories around a brilliant idea: sci-fi stories for children. There are future technologies, new planets, aliens, apocalypse, children heroes and clear moral lessons.

Most of the stories are really good: the ideas are great, the moral lesson is clear, but not over-explained. Find your talent (The Great Broccoli Wi-Fi Theft), suppressing others is wrong (Station Run), protecting our environment is important (My Mother the Ocean)…

The varied sci-fi environments are also cool: there are spaceships in the book, new technologies, new planets to live or discover (Fluffy Pets are Best), many types of aliens, first-time contacts, apocalypse… The future is not always happy in the book: there were wars, overwhelming pollution, and sometimes even the new technologies couldn’t solve all the problems of humanity…

Until most of the stories are great, entertaining and clever, some of them are too negative. OK, life is not always bright, we wouldn’t and shouldn’t lie about it to our children. But a sad and tragic story makes a child more sad and embittered than an adult, I’m not sure it was a good idea to select them to this book. For example: evil robbers hurt your dad who becomes disabled for all his life? (The Sting of the Irukandji) You know you will die in 10 days and you couldn’t do anything, so you are just waiting for it in the library? (Moth Girl) Taking away children’s freedom and even their dreams? (Station Run) You were sold by your mother(!), an evil scientist makes experiments with your body(!), and when you accidentally survive that, you start to plan the vengeance, how to destroy the company and all the people in that… (Anjali) Really?

Another aspect is the feminists’ point of view: almost all the main characters are girls. I agree that everybody could be a hero: a girl, a child with a disability (girls in wheelchairs: Abduction Assumption, The Altitude Adjustment, a deaf girl: Nocturnal Noise), and even an animal could be a hero (The Smell of Home, Safe in the Dome). But the boy readers will may be disappointed when they will find only one(!) story about a boy hero (After the End), every other one is about girls.

My favorites were those stories, which are not just exciting and morally interesting, but funny: when you suspect that your alien neighbors maybe killed your old woman neighbor (Far from Home – don’t worry, the thing in the sack will not be Mrs. Pears…). The absolute best in the book is Blaise of Luna, where the diplomat, who would handle the first-time contact with an aggressive alien species, becomes ill, so his daughter has to participate in the informal and official diplomatic events…I literally laughed out loud on the underground when I was reading it, and the background moral lesson is also cool: a kid sometimes able to handle things as much good as an adult…

In general, I absolutely recommend this book and give to your 6-10 years old daughter, but I’m not so sure if you have a son. And you may consider to leave out (tear? make a sign?) those sad and negative stories as well…

The Young Explorer’s Adventurer’s Guide anthology series (now in its fourth year) is unique in providing an annual collection of scifi stories aimed at middle grade audiences. I’ve noticed that there’s generally a lack of SFF short fiction markets and material around for this age group, so it’s refreshing to see an example of well-established and well put together anthology.

The 24 stories in this collection range widely in their material, narrative style and even how they approach writing for a middle grade audience. They include stories about kids having adventures on space stations, reconnecting a long-abandoned Earth ecology, exploring new planets with their parents, learning to communicate with alien species, and finding treasures and parts of their society the adults would rather keep secret. The protagonists of these stories are wonderfully diverse, too, focusing on kids from different class and race backgrounds, different genders, and often with physical disabilities that are in no way getting in the way of them having adventures and making a difference.

Highlights for me included:

“Dance Like You’re Alone in Your Environmental Pod” by Eric Del Carlo

“Fluffy Pets are Best” by Holly Schofield

“Station Run” by Sherry D. Ramsey

“On the Lam on Luna” by Morgan Bliss

“Nocturnal Noise” by L.G. Keltner

“Clockwork Carabao” by Marilag Angway

The variety of stories included here is a bit of a double-edged sword, though. I found that that it meant that there were more stories that didn’t grab me than did, and that the tone of the stories varied from patronising to seemingly too complex or adult in concepts or morality. I found the collection a bit uneven in that sense and while this is a good, broad selection of stories, they didn’t quite come together as a coherent whole anthology for me.

Having said that I think it’s the correct decision by the editors. This anthology is aimed at middle grade audiences who may be encountering scifi content for the first time and should therefore be trying to cover as much conceptual ground as possible to have the greatest possible chance of resonating with the audience. The 2018 Young Adventurer’s Guide certainly does an excellent job at that.

I’m keen to read future annual editions of this anthology and would love to see if Dreaming Robot Press has plans to expand their range of publications for this age group (thematically linked anthologies perhaps?).

Great book, loved the different stories, would definitely buy books written by quite a few of the contributors.