YOUNG EXPLORER'S ADVENTURE GUIDE

The Weavers bring readers their sixth volume of galactic tales starring kids confronted with a variety of futuristic challenges, some not so far-fetched.

The editors have made a conscious attempt at expanding authorial diversity. In “Oduduwa: The Return,” Nigerian Afrofuturist Imade Iyamu has created a world where humans have been colonized and are raised for food by a species capable of “znog,” or mind-communication. Asian American author Andrew K. Hoe reminisces about fried sea cucumbers in “In the Night City,” in which siblings Kiam-Lin and Dylan awaken from their stasis-pods to neutralize a mysterious serpent that threatens thousands of sleeping Chinese settlers in the underwater city of Sui-Fa. In “Cloudcatcher,” written by returning Filipinx American author Marilag Angway, bored 11-year-old Jaz partners with Lolo, her grandfather, to build a rain tank that will save their village in the Old World from a threatening monsoon. Also returning is Dawn Vogel, who, in “Fixer Upper,” tells the story of a young Indian girl who dreams of joining a Mars mission to escape the ruins and devastation of Earth. These are standouts; other stories, many from authors included in previous anthologies, have a sense of tameness that’s at odds with the genre.

An uncharacteristically uneven collection of speculative storytelling. (Science fiction. 10-14)