jazzfish: Jazz Fish: beret, sunglasses, saxophone (Default)
Tucker McKinnon ([personal profile] jazzfish) wrote in [community profile] findthatbook2019-12-10 08:57 am

YA SF anthology

I'm looking for a YA SF anthology that I read in (US) elementary school in the late-eighties, though it felt kind of dated even at the time. (Likely published late-seventies or early-eighties.) Of the stories I can remember:

- One was about a post-apocalyptic city, with the not-too-bright protagonist (a mutant) being chased by a group of normal people. The story ended with the protagonist trapped atop a tower with the chasers coming up after him, so he jumped out of a window, and the last lines were "I can fly! I can fly!"

- One was about a kid whose father had invented a sort of time machine: it shows you what your life will be like if you make certain choices. The kid snuck in to try out the machine to see what his life would be like as a football player, and then a couple of other career options. It ended with him getting a talking-to from his father, and then deciding that he wanted to be a scientist.

- This may have been the book that included a story about an alien who goes to an all-you-can-eat buffet and eats all the food they have, teleporting it back to his starving home planet, and in exchange gives the Earth all kinds of scientific knowledge, but leaving the buffet owner broke.

- The last story in the book was about a teenager whose parents had just died in a car crash, and a kid from the middle ages turns up claiming that they're his parents too... they're time-travellers, who go around having kids who will grow up to be world-changing.

Thanks!

Post a comment in response:

If you don't have an account you can create one now.
HTML doesn't work in the subject.
More info about formatting

If you are unable to use this captcha for any reason, please contact us by email at support@dreamwidth.org