Amazon.com Review
In homage to the new millennium, young adult literature critic and author Michael Cart (My Father's Scar) invites nine well-known writers to join him in crafting a story about the future. "Since we are what we were," he notes, "retrospection might also be in order." Historical fiction writer James Cross Giblin takes him at his word with "Night of the Plague," a story harking back to the terrors the coming of the first millennium wrought, and Jon Scieszka plays it for laughs at a Neanderthal-bashing New Year's Eve party in 33001 B.C. Katherine Paterson writes a story about the last dog, Jacqueline Woodson explores single motherhood, and Ron Koertge employs his amusing style in a tale of socially awkward young men that affirms that, in spite of robots, "there are two things that are never gonna change. There's always gonna be a spring dance, and guys are always gonna play ball." Tor Seidler echoes the sentiment, but this time it's football, rather than baseball. Lois Lowry soars with her poignant portrayal of an old man's rage at betrayal and change. Surprisingly, only two of the authors shape their stories as science fiction: Gloria Skurzynski, with a Martian Cain and Abel adventure, and Rodman Philbrick, with a brief but terrifying glimpse of a future without compassion reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange. Teens will find something for every taste in this wide-ranging sampler. (Ages 10 to 14) --Patty Campbell