A collection of student authors throughout the State of Michigan!   Story: “Kaleidoscope” by Michigan Reading Association Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fairytale Rating: PG Credits: Kaleidoscope: A Celebration of Michigan Student Authors Edited by The Michigan Reading Association - Cortney Brendel, Elenore Glass, Amy Duncan, Kelly Vangel, Lori Ulewicz, Karen Allmen The Wonderful Life of the Turkey by Nathan Lantzy Jack and the Evil King by Rachel Brodi Magic Steve and Jester by Garet Gertsch Haley the Hedgehog by Emily Dennis Snakezilla by Maximilian Wisniewski Be Unique, Like Me by Taylor Mauldin The Invasive Pigs by Lucas Nguyen Jane’s Adventure  by Ava Sherman The Lost Unicorn by Emma Jacob Sirius by Phoenix McCreadie The Secret of Ergon by Meredith Tipton Junai by Arianna Crossley PJC Media Parker J. Cole The Parker J. Cole Show Write Stuff Radio  

Review by Kim Wicke General Thoughts With nine stories by seven different authors, this anthology offers a good mix of the speculative genres, from the barely-futuristic to the fabulous.  I am slightly disappointed that none of the selections scratched my itch for classic high fantasy, but the variety was wide enough that I was able to find other things I liked almost as much.  If your personal preferences run more towards sci-fi or horror, you probably won’t feel even that small lack, and there’s definitely at least a little something here for everyone. Despite the variety on display, though, I did notice one odd similarity running through several tales.  Four out of nine stories contain the following formula: something bad happens to the protagonist’s daughter, which consumes said protagonist’s mind and drives all of his (or in one instance, her) actions.  After two stories in a row featuring this device, I started mentally bracing myself as soon as ...

Story: "Graxin" by Kerry Nietz Genre: Science Fiction Rating: PG  Servbot XV-43 searches for the compound "graxin" on Neptune's moon, Proteus. Hour after hour he processes samples, until he encounters an unexpected beauty within the darkness. Credits: "Graxin" by Kerry Nietz KerryNietz.com Facebook Twitter Works by Kerry Nietz: A Star Curiously Singing The Superlative Stream Freeheads Mask Amish Vampires in Space         ( Producer's Review ) "Graxin" originally appeared in Ether Ore , published by Marcher Lord Press . See Marcher Lord Press transform into Enclave Publishing . Cover Attribution: NASA Goddard Photo and Video Originally Appearing on The Untold Podcast