In My Nightmares I’m Theresa Wiggin

I’ve been trying to come up with good introduction, something punchy, y’know. But I can’t. Closing my eyes I can hear my son avidly discussing trains with DH and my daughter thumping her fork on a table as she eats her breakfast. A few moments peace in order to coherently gather my thoughts, nope, not going to happen . . . oh well. It could be worse. I could be Theresa Wiggin.

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Gifted Adults in SF Literature

For this blog-hop on gifted adults, I decided I would like to write about some of the great portrayals of gifted adults in SF literature.

Here are my set of micro-reviews of some of my favourite SF books on gifted adults. They range in reading demographic from YA to adult-only and these are the books that I keep going back to, again and again. In many ways, they reflect the struggles of the gifted adult – the problems with loneliness, ‘fitting in’ and dealing with thinking differently.
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I Got My Lunchbox …

I was 13 when I decided school was a prison. As I read my way through the classics of sci-fi – from Asimov’s ‘Foundation‘, through to Phillip K Dick’s ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?‘, wending my way through Heinlein, Herbert and Clarke, – I learned about social structures. And I learned more by finding and reading works like Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince‘, Bernard Shaw’s ‘Man and Superman‘, and even the mad absurdity of ‘Waiting for Godot’. And in my 13-year-old mind, I started to put together a theory of social conditioning.

Warning: Occasional foul language when appropriate.

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SF/Fantasy Gifted Homeschoolers Series: Have Spacesuit, Will Travel

SF/Fantasy Gifted Homeschoolers Series, Have Spacesuit, Will Travel, yellowreadis.com Image: Old photo of stars

This is part of a series of reviews on books that have gifted homeschoolers of one variety or another as protagonists. A few of these books are also actually sequels or one in a series. If so, I will say. As I explain here, not all these books will be suitable for children to read. But today’s book is one of the happy exceptions. Which is a Heinlein rarity!

Title: Have Spacesuit, Will Travel
Author: Robert A. Heinlein
Genre: SF

Disclaimer: This post may have  links to buy books, because if you want to read  this awesome books, I want to make it easier for you – I am a book-enabler.. But you can always hop over to your local library instead – libraries are cool.
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SF/Fantasy Gifted Homeschoolers Series: Dune

SF/Fantasy Gifted Homeschoolers Series, Dune, yellowreadis.com Image: Old photo of stars

I am going to do a series of reviews on books that have gifted homeschoolers of one variety or another as protagonists. Now there is a caveat here: I haven’t included stories where the protagonist didn’t get an ‘education’ because of deprivation, i.e. like Dragonflight’s Lessa. These will be stories where education and homeschooling actually are talked about within the story, and if possible, form an integral part of the storytelling.

A few of these books are also actually sequels or one in a series. If so, I will say. And explain why the earlier books don’t count! (Though they’re usually also a great read).

Not all these books will be suitable for children to read. This is not designed to be a list to hand to your child. But will, I hope, open the door for books that most will not think about as ‘homeschooling’ books. I hope it’s fun too. Enjoy!

So to kick this off, I’m starting with a classic.

NB. This post has links to buy books – because if you want to read awesome books (or consume their media derivatives) , I want to make it easier for you – I am a book-enabler. . But you can always hop over to your local library instead – libraries are cool.

Title: Dune
Author: Frank Herbert
Genre: SF Continue reading “SF/Fantasy Gifted Homeschoolers Series: Dune”