«The Streetcar to Andromeda» by Celeste Hammond Streiff

Imagine you could enter a world teeming with strange and wonderful characters and beings simply by taking a walk down your street and catching–The Streetcar to Andromeda.The Streetcar to Andromeda is a Science Fiction fantasy adventure that deals with imagination and the dreamer. It begins in late 1938. Jesse, Parker, and Emma, are three intelligent and imaginative friends of high school age with high hopes for the future, not realizing that in three short years WW11 will be upon them. Their fascination with pulp Sci-fi magazines leads them to re-invent themselves in an imaginary and humorous world of their own as Martian Exiles who were driven from their home planet eons ago by the malevolent Madman Roth. They end up crash landing here on Earth, in a vacant lot, near an old Victorian home, smack dab in the middle of Wichita, Kansas.From Jesse's imagination comes the story of their exploits and adventures through which a cosmic Empire is fashioned. The Exiles alternate world of The Martian Empire lays the 81st dimension, which in reality is a counterpart of a four- block area in their very own neighborhood. Thereby, simply taking a walk down the street could involve them thus in a journey through space, in which our heroes might encounter all sorts of fearful hazards.The conflict between Good and Evil that is happening in the real world of the 1940's is mirrored the Exiles alternate world in space and the ultimate goal of Jesse and the Exiles is to someday soon, re-capture Mars from the enslavement of Madman Roth, who is hell bent (like Hitler) on conquering the entire Universe…Shultz's Beer Parlor lies in the 81st dimension and is a favorite hangout of our stalwart band of Exiles and their Allies. At Shultz's they carouse with their friends like, The Mighty Moscovitch, the demon Veri, and various assortments of Dragons, heroes, and gods.During some of their adventures Jesse and the Exiles outwit the scheming Ex-Robot Dictator and his menacing Bots. In a later escapade when the nasty little race of the U.Us (the Utterly Unpronounceables) accidentally blow up Asteroid Qum23 which is the pivot of the universe, it causes the whole universe to collapse. With the protective layer of The Goodrum Screen down, Madman Roth escapes from the Netherworld free to wreak havoc. Several Exiles are caught in "Space Time Traps" where they witness The Crack in the Universe, and watch as evil sloth-like creatures from the sub and supra spaces emerge. In this new Universe, Jesse saves the day by reversing time to stop some of the dissolution by using his slide rule to calculate space and time, thus arriving at another outcome, but not before the famous Wichita Vortex is created.Eventually The Triumphant Victory battle for Mars takes place in the capital City of Isfenfearth and the Exiles accomplish their goal with the help of a celestial event, sending Madman Roth and his minions packing.In the course of the adventures there are instances of themes that deal with the environment, a handicap, greed, rejection, prejudice, the value of imagination plus creativity, heartwarming family values and morals, and a rich camaraderie in the style of the Marx Brothers humor with a real sense of the innocence of the past. The power of imagination, and creativity and their importance is illustrated by our hero possessing the seemingly magical quality of a dreamer and thus sometimes a creator. But, one of the main lessons here, is to be brave and hold tightly to your dreams especially in times when the whole world seems to have gone bad.So, with a little humor, a little history and a lot of entertainment The Streetcar to Andromeda is a fresh original approach to storytelling that can give young adults a perception in imagination and creativity that they can build upon. «Sometimes looking back can show us the way forward.»