Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide

Volume 6

Sean Weaver (Editor), Corie Weaver (Editor) Dreaming Robot Press Softcover $17.95 (420pp) 978-1-940924-44-1

The twenty-four stories that make up Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide: Volume 6 alternate between being funny, serious, adventuresome, and studious. They feature intelligent and resourceful characters who’re between the ages of eight and fourteen.

On a wayward spaceship, a girl’s grandmother’s stolen box holds the only thing that could save the crew. Elsewhere, a girl who suffers from premonition-induced catatonia loses her service dog and causes a time paradox. Two child androids are sent on a joke-filled mission to retrieve T.A.C.O. chips for a purpose unknown to them.

Common themes and motifs tie the stories together, including main characters’ use of STEM and social knowledge to solve problems. In Deborah Walker’s “I Guess I’m Just a Lucky So-and-so,” Jessie talks a stranger on the bus down from a medical condition attack using what she’s learned about psychology in school. Similarly, Edi takes to the water in Alex Mcgilvery’s “Sal’ky” when the stronger gravity in her new home makes the use of her wheelchair difficult; her study of “space squids” leads to an ecological discovery that only she could have foreseen.

Vibrant settings and inventive plot lines abound. Animal companions are common among the stories, as are stories of being forced to move to another place, like a space station or new planet; still, stories with similar topics are approached in different, compelling ways. Each entry is captivating, and the diversity of both the characters and authors shows children that they can be successful in STEM fields no matter their backgrounds.

The twenty-four exciting stories of Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide stir the imagination.