Colony VII

About the Book

Ms. Martha Smith is the personification of everyone’s favorite teacher. She is vivacious, attractive, energetic, sensitive, caring -- she just isn’t human. As the educational computer on Colony VII, a thriving space habitat, she welcomes her new class of school-age children and begins to form them into a cohesive group. The bonds that develop prepare them for an exciting adventure as an accident on their first field trip sends them adrift in space. Only by applying their unique talents are they able to save themselves and a runaway hydroponic farm. Later, when their teacher worries about the safety of a former student, the children turn to the past to find the ideas that lead them to exciting breakthroughs in communication and transportation. Boldly, they do what their elders could not - rescue a starship and its crew, and in the process, save civilization from terrifying, flesh-eating aliens.

About the Author

At the age of six, J. H. Long was told how he could become a Wizard. The task was rather daunting to the youngster, staring at the row of more than thirty volumes on the bookshelf. He and his parents were visiting family friends, and he had become captivated by their collection of the Oz books. All he had to do was read them, and he would be a wizard -- it was that easy. That evening, he left carrying the first four volumes, and over the year or so, the remaining books traveled back and forth by mail. By the time he finished the last one, the miraculous transformation was complete. The avid young reader was now able to transport himself instantly to universes of fantasy by immersing himself in the magical world of literature. Fortunately, he never lost that ability.