Review: Guys Read: Other Worlds

Jon Scieszka introduces Guys Read: Other Worlds by presenting the idea that all fiction and storytelling answers the question, “What if?” As an adult, I can’t think of anything more nourishing than getting lost in than question. Reading through this collection of science fiction and fantasy was utterly engrossing. When you transfer what if? to other worlds, you can strip away all the rules by which we’ve become accustomed to. Everything about the story becomes shiny and new and therefore, contemplating the big questions asked by great sci-fi/fantasy becomes a natural part of the game. 

I didn’t think I liked to read when I was a kid. Reading was something you were dragged through. I grew up with the idea that reading meant you had to pour over every line of some tedious story if you were going to have any chance at understanding what you were supposed to understand; what the author intended for you to understand. When I discovered my love of reading, I learned just how wrong I had been. This anthology, not only transported me to other worlds, it transported me to an ideal version of my ten-year-old self. Story after story held my eyes open wide as I imagined so many different what ifs in so many different contexts. After finishing the compilation, I couldn’t help feeling a little jealous of all the emerging readers that will be exposed to such scintillating imagination. 

In the upper elementary grades, students are taking that big leap from the concrete to the abstract. The new challenge becomes asking this age to think deeply about message and theme. One of the greatest challenges of an anthology is to overcome the inconsistency that can result from asking for contributions from a number of different authors. One of the greatest challenges of a short story is to be good. Seriously, how hard is it to tell something well when you have all the space you need? Let alone trying to tackle big questions when you can’t spare a word? Other Worlds is a cut above because it succeeds on these three levels. 

The short stories, while ranging in tone and theme, are more than accessible to kids who are transitioning to abstract thinking. But this anthology is a gem because even though you can read the stories in any order, those who prefer cover to cover will find the pacing and flow between tales impressive. 

A quick visit with Percy Jackson on the streets of NYC kicks off a wild romp through the unimaginable. Shannon Hale delves into a medieval tale of trickery. Tom Angleberger indulges in a tale more irreverent than Fake Mustache (didn’t think that was possible) before Neil Shusterman sets a whole new bar in the utterly transportive page-turning, powerhouse The Dirt on Our Shoes. Rebecca Stead’s etherial style provides a nice respite which goes hand-in-hand with Shaun Tan’s amazing ability to engulf you in a whole ‘nother place and time with a few sparse words spun around his profound imagery. After reading a surprisingly poignant ghost story from Kenneth Oppel, I hope you’ll run out to grab Half Brother immediately. Concluding this top-notch ensemble of present-day writers is Eric Nuylund’s gem The Warlords of Recess. And the swan song: Bradbury. While an epic, 75 page short story might seem like an oxymoron, in what I can only hope was a purposeful subversive act, young readers will be exposed to how the twisted mind of Ray Bradbury can address the entire human condition in one jaw dropping sitting. Speaking of twisted minds, Greg Ruth’s accompanying illustrations always seem to tap into just the right mood. 

If you’re in the mood to blow away some youngsters, bookmark Shusterman and Bradbury’s stories and hand it off to some unsuspecting impressionable mind. Of all the axe murderers, drug dealers, and arsonists I’ve talked to I’ve never heard any of them say, “It all went wrong after I read...” Maybe by being exposed to these wildly contemplative tales, they’ll grow up to reshape this world.