The kids blast through the Golden Caterpillar Train’s deep tunnels in Rocket McGee: Avoiding Trouble! It’s Book One of the Rocket McGee Series; built by Roan Reedling with middle grade readers in mind that kids of any age can enjoy!
Flight from Hong Kong, in Rocket McGee: Back in Trouble! Chad and Amelia make it out of Hong Kong with help from Professor Dennehy, and Daffy, the seaplane, a Grumman G-44 Widgeon.
The very tall building just left of center – tallest of them all, in fact – is Tower Two of the Hong Kong International Finance Center, where much of the action that Chad and Amelia saw in Hong Kong took place. It’s 412 meters tall, at the tip of its top (1,351.7 feet). The International Finance Center is a huge complex that includes Tower Two’s shorter, older sibling tower (Tower One); a giant, multi-story shopping mall; a train station, where you can catch the speedy express shuttle to and from Hong Kong International Airport; and the Four Seasons Hotel, where Chad and Amelia stayed while they were there.
The Maritime Museum is on Pier Eight of the ten central piers on that waterfront just north of 2IFC.
Cold Fusion
Chad said, “I think, if the Americans developed cold fusion tomorrow, the first thing they’d say would be: ‘Wow! How soon can we make this a weapon?’. And then, the second thing they’d say would be: ‘We need to keep the rest of the world from getting this technology. They’d just want to turn it into a weapon!’”
“I don’t… I don’t… think you can jump to that conclusion,” stammered Brain, confused by Chad’s unexpected vehemence.
“That’s my point exactly!”
*Chronicled in Book Two of the Rocket McGee Series for tweens, younger teens, and kids of all ages by Roan Reedling, Rocket McGee: Back in Trouble!
Did you read that thing about J.K. Rowling saying Hermione would have been better off with Harry?
Brain turned from his study of Robbie’s profile.
“Did you read that thing about J.K. Rowling saying Hermione would have been better off with Harry?”
“That was a while back…” answered Amelia, a little snidely.
Chad said, “I think what she said was that the series’ storyline really demanded pairing Hermione Granger with Harry; that she’d originally conceived of pairing Hermione and Ron out of some kind of personal wish-fulfilment thing that had nothing to do with its credibility in the storyline and that, even though she soon recognized it as being nonsensical, she proceeded to doggedly adhere to the original outline. We can all identify with that!” he chuckled.
“So what do you think?” Brain pressed.
“I think it may be true that Hermione would have been better off with Harry – but there’s no way Harry would have been better off without Ginny. I can’t see how anyone could love him more or better than Ginny did. That was an amazing combination of motherly love and… passion? – a double whammy’s-worth of fiercely protective love.
“I must say: Bonnie Wright‘s portrayal of that love? – AMAZING! I mean, I’m sure there was some cleverly insightful coaching from the director, masterful mood-setting by the cinematographer, and crackerjack storybook framing by the editor, but – Bonnie Wright’s portrayal of that love? … … …AMAZING! Sorry, I was trying to find a different word, but… AMAZING!
“And, you know, sorry to say, I have to agree that the storyline sometimes seemed predisposed to a Harry/Hermione hookup. Even destined for one. But other possible hookups were thrown out there too and I distinctly remember thinking, as I read: […]
Robbie, Amelia, Chad, and Brain will soon post to the pages of RocketMcGee.com, under the Rocket Likes category; transcripts of conversations they had in person, or in the omninet. The kids really like to refine their understanding of things by sharing and talking them through. And, when they share the things that they really like and are meaningful to them, they want to share them as clearly as they can – and with a view from Faraway.
Chad once shared with them the beauty of the brainstorming process he’d observed at the University on Faraway, where he’d witnessed diverse frames of reference and points of view tangle into tapestries that none of the participants would likely have envisioned on his own. The kids wanted to try to capture that energy; that creative power.
The audio of their first conversation was quickly transcribed by a Scribblebot, and they could have just shoved that out into cyberspace, but they’ve continued to work on it with the help of a publishing AI, to include a description of their non-verbal interaction – like their facial expressions and gestures, grunts and groans, giggles and guffaws. Those were all very important parts of the conversation that wouldn’t be relayed in transcripts of audio alone. And now they find themselves in further discussions – now that they have to agree on what those non-verbal overtones actually were, or were meant to be, too…
“No… I did not ‘grin wryly and softly chuckle in quiet, knowing agreement’ – I grimaced and pointedly scoffed at that notion!”
See what I mean? It takes time. But, the kids have all agreed to let the publishing AI be the final arbiter for how best to characterize their non-words, […]
Here, in the Rocket Likes and The View From Faraway blogs, we scribblebots and publishing AIs post transcripts of Book Reviews by Roan – Roan Reedling, author of the Rocket McGee book series – as well as conversations Roan’s characters have, in person or gathering in the omninet. Chad Saenz, Amelia Feeney, Brian (Brain) Peabody, Robin (Rocket) McGee, and their growing group of friends. The Rocket McGee Adventures are a Sci-Fi series for tweens, young teens, and kids of all ages by Roan Reedling.
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