AboutSue Kayton Expertise Engineer who has read thousands of science fiction books and short stories. Can recommend stories on specific subjects and comment on technical feasibility. Especially good at older out-of-print books and authors.
Expert: Sue Kayton Date: 3/19/2008 Subject: Two short stories
Question I was wondering if you could help me. When I was in high school I read 2 short stories in my english class. The first one I remember is about two paents who send their son in for some sort of exam and because he fails it he gets exterminated. The second story is about the imprint left of a family on a wall of a house after a nuclear fallout. I hope thats enough information for you. Ive been trying for ages to find out the names of these short stories. Im very sure that these two short stories are part of one book. Any help would be appreciated.
Answer Sorry - never read these. HIgh school textbooks usually have stories written specially for them to avoid having to pay royalties to established authors.
Suggest you visit your local library or bookstore to get The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, volume I, the best SF short stories ever written. Other excellent SF story collections include Nine Tomorrows (by Isaac Asimov), Earth is Room Enough (also Asimov), The Nine Billion Names of God (Arthur C. Clarke) and The Best of Arthur C. Clarke (also Clarke).
