As a spin-off to our year-long science fiction literature unit, we'll also be taking a look at retro-futurism, just for fun. This would also make a quirky tie-in to a study of technology or the history of inventions. Here's my reading list, though there may be some overlap between titles:

• The Wonderful Future that Never Was: Flying Cars, Mail Delivery by Parachutes and Other Predictions by the Editors of Popular Mechanics
• Where's My Jetpack?: A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future that Never Arrived by Daniel H. Wilson
• How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion by Daniel H. Wilson (This pertains to more to the history and future of robotics)
• Your Flying Car Awaits: Robot Butlers, Lunar Vacations, and Other Dead-Wrong Predictions of the Twentieth Century by Paul Milo
• A Brief History of Tomorrow by Jonathan Margolis
• DVDs: Walt Disney Treasures: Tomorrow Land: Disney in Space and Beyond (1959) and The Jetsons: The Complete First Season (1962)

Paleofuture is a terrific blog that explores "The Future That Never Was" and Dark Roasted Blend also has some amazing stuff.

One of my recent ideas for school next year was to put together a science fiction unit for J, something that he would absolutely love (he wants to be an astrobiologist). Below are the books that I initially purchased, though I expect that some will be culled and others added as I get further into my pre-reading and planning. In particular, I like the idea of studying the books by sub-genre (time travel, dystopian, apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic, etc.), so there's clearly some organizational work to be done. More than likely our "spine" will be the amazing Prentice Hall Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy, a college text which I'll use selectively.

• Amazing Journeys: Journey to the Center of the Earth, From the Earth to the Moon, Circling the Moon, 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas, and Around the World in 80 Days (1864-1873) by Jules Verne
• The Time Machine (1895) by H.G. Wells
• Space Cadet (1948) by Robert Heinlein  
• Red Planet (1949) by Robert Heinlein 
• I, Robot (1950) by Isaac Asimov
• The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet (1954) by Eleanor Cameron (This is ideal for younger kids, but I didn't realize that until after I had purchased it!)
• The Stories of Ray Bradbury (Everyman's Library)  
• Tunnel in the Sky (1955) by Robert Heinlein 
• House of Stairs (1974) by William Sleator
• Interstellar Pig (1984) by William Sleator
• Ender’s Game (1985) by Orson Scott Card 
• Spacer and Rat (2004) by Margaret Bechard 

A fascinating blog documenting non-fiction children's books about space flight, from 1945 to 1975, is Dreams of Space.

While these books might not have much literary value, I thought they might be fun to include anyway (or maybe not!).


Dystopian Fiction*
*I picked these books from the excellent lists found here and here.

• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
• Messenger by Lois Lowry
• The Silenced by Jame DeVita
• Gone by Michael Grant
• Into the Forest by Jean Hegland
• Feed by M.T. Anderson

Top 50 Dystopian Movies of All Time