Easy Answers to First Science Questions: Earth Book

Solid collection of science-fiction stories, very loosely themed around the viewpoint of children, although in a few stories I don't see who is the child or how the fact that he or she is a child matters much. A few of the stories have an enjoyably humorous tinge.

Excellent: "Thy Tryouts," by Barry Longyear, funny and clever and draws a really nice picture of an alien culture. "The Band from the Planet Zoom," by Andrew Weiner, very unlike any other science-fiction stories I've ever read, also quite funny, had additional appeal to me as a rock music fan. "And Who Would Pity a Swan?", by Connie Willis," a fairy tale about remembering the past, with layers and a sharp last line (not a twist, just a sharp comment). The title story, "Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers," by Lawrence Watt-Evans, cute and leaves a a smile on your face.

Very good: "Profession," by Isaac Asimov, striking similarities to The Giver. "Glacier," by Kim Stanley Robinson, much different from the other stories in that it is somber, slow, and driven by mood rather than plot (somewhat surprising it was selected as the first story as it does not set the tone for the rest of the stories).

Other stories were pretty good, with only one story that I thought was genuinely poor, "The Web Dancer" by Somtow Sucharitkul.