J. Sheldon Jones
Deserter
George Atkins was thirteen years old when the Recruiters came. His mother tried to hide him but he heard her screaming and came out to try to stop them from hurting her. A thirteen year old kid doesn’t have much of a chance against two grown men. George ended up Recruited and stuck in the Army for over twenty years. Now he’s come back to the States and discovered that for about 19 years, boy babies have been hidden away and their mothers have been told that they died. He’s determined to find out where they’ve been taken and get them released.
J. Sheldon Jones
She of Strangeness
Karel is an Interstellar Scout. She and her partner travel from one star system to another hoping to find intelligent life and establish a friendly first contact. They don’t know what the creatures they find will look like, but they are prepared to be accepting of any physical appearance. They are trained not to be repulsed or frightened by those they hope to befriend.
They expect to encounter unusual behavior patterns and customs, and they will try to conform as best they can while working to learn as much as possible. They will be as objective as possible. Karel’s objectivity is challenged when she finds a previously unknown human colony and, after her partner is killed, she is taken captive. Karel’s first attempt at escape ends in recapture, and her punishment is very severe and very public. Can she regain the courage to try again? If she does, can she succeed?
“A perceptive tale that astutely criticizes societal norms.”-Kirkus Reviews
