Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide Volume V

  Introduction By Bethany Brookshire Some adults have more in common with kids than others. There are the adults who try to act like they’re still kids. I’m not talking about them. There are the adults who try to impress kids by acting as though they “get” kids in some adult way. I’m not talking about them either. The adults who get kids the most are writers of stories. It’s not because they act like kids. (Though maybe they do; I don’t judge.) It’s not because they’ve studied about child minds or how kids grow and develop. (Though maybe they have.) It’s not because they’re smarter or wiser. (Though maybe they are.) No. It’s because writers — especially writers of stories — have something in common with kids. Writers are dreamers. They dream of the future. They dream of connections between people and things. They dream of ideas. They dream of things that will never exist. Even writers who write adult history books dream. They dream about the past, that’s all. Kids are dreamers too. The world could be so much more amazing than it is. Why can’t there be air balloon pirates? Or giant, feathered, intelligent T. rexes? Kids are who they want to be, and where they want to be, in their dreams. In worlds where they are heroes. In their dreams, they write their own stories. They save themselves. We’ve all been kids. We’ve all dreamed. But as most adults grow older, their dreams shrink. Dreams of planets and moons and galaxies become dreams of jobs, family, and a beach vacation. They are important dreams, just as important as the big ones. But they are smaller. Writers’ dreams, though, never shrank. Their dreams stayed big. And these writers have written down those dreams for us. Dreams that kids (and a few adults) will recognize. The writers in this book have something else in common with kids. They know how kids feel. These characters aren’t mini-adults. They get angry. They get scared. They feel hopeful. Their characters make all the good, brave choices that kids make. And they make some of the bad choices kids make, too. This book is full of new, exciting worlds, filled with people you want to meet. They are smart. They figure things out. They save themselves, and maybe save civilization on the way. Just like us. Every one of the writers in this collection of stories is a wonderful dreamer. In this book, they have shown us their dreams. They dream of Earth. They dream of space. They dream of robots and old car races. They dream of kids who save themselves. Some of these dreams are so wonderful that I wish they had their own, full-length books. I hope they will someday. I want to spend more time in these worlds. I want to read more of these dreams. I think you will, too. Join these writers. Visit worlds populated with half cats and giant stick-insect engineers. Where jokes are deadly serious, and doing as you’re told can get you killed. If you’re lucky you might see a space dragon or two. Some of these stories are about success. Some are about fear. Some are about failure. All are like lighthouses at the edges of the galaxy. They shine to remind us that when we dream of the stars, we aren’t alone. We have these stories, and these writers. And these writers dream, too. These worlds are ready to be shared, and their characters waiting to be met. So take this book to a comfortable spot. Settle in. Fasten your seatbelt. And make sure to bring a flashlight. Trust me. It will help you hang on to your dreams.   Bethany Brookshire has a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in philosophy from The College of William and Mary, and a Ph.D. in physiology and pharmacology from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She is the guest editor of The Open Laboratory Anthology of Science Blogging, 2009, and the winner of the Society for Neuroscience Next Generation Award and the Three Quarks Daily Science Writing Award, among others. She blogs at Eureka! Lab and at Scicurious.