Northwestern University Press
240 pages
June 15, 2025
Genre-bending stories of the cosmos and the worlds within our own skin
Blending fairy tale and science fiction with the otherworldliness of adolescence, A Preponderance of Starry Beings is a collection for anyone preoccupied with looking skyward. These stories probe the experience of coming of age on the outskirts of the universe, whether that be a small Midwestern town or a distant galaxy, and of weighing earthly obligations against the vast promises of space.
In a sleepy Ohio neighborhood, two girls seek refuge from their homophobic schoolmates in an antiques shop filled with Star Trek memorabilia. On a generation spaceship, children revolt against their parents’ plans to colonize a distant world. Deep in the Florida Everglades, seven sisters must protect their otherworldly mythology when two men arrive to fix the family automobile.