A Follow Up from "My Teacher Flunked the Planet" author Bruce Coville

I had a real thrill this morning: in addition to lovely messages from readers, I received an email from the author of My Teacher Flunked the Planet himself, Bruce Coville.

As I shared in my previous post, I came across My Teacher Flunked the Planet by chance this summer and wrote an essay about it on Medium, called What Early 90s Teen Lit Taught Me about Unity in 2020 (please read, and give it a clap!).

I found Bruce’s contact and sent him an email last night. Just a simple message to let him know his book moved me. And lo and behold, this morning I had a note back. Not only that, but he had tweeted my article to his over 4,000 followers.

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This essay about MY TEACHER FLUNKED THE PLANET, written by someone who really understood the book, filled me with joy.https://t.co/mIg7fzijlh

— Boo Coville (@brucecoville) November 2, 2020

In his follow up tweet, he writes, “Truth is, I got away with a lot in this book because no one was paying much attention to the fourth book in a paperback original SF series. The politics and philosophy of the book are an open secret between me and about two million kids.”

Via email, Bruce shared his gratitude for my having written about his book and said that it is arguably the most important one he ever wrote. Wow.

So anyway, that was super cool. Super cool, indeed.

If you haven’t yet, read the article, What Early 90s Teen Lit Taught Me about Unity in 2020.

What Early 90s Teen Lit Taught Me about Unity in 2020

The legendary, My Teacher Flunked the Planet!!!

Friends, I have just published my first story at Medium: What Early 90s Teen Lit Taught Me about Unity in 2020.

This was inspired by reading, for the first time, Bruce Coville’s 1992 work of young adult fiction, My Teacher Flunked the Planet. Check out the article to get the story behind this intriguing title and what it made me think about mankind, and world peace in 2020. Yes, you read that right!

Another thing I love about this is that only in a year like 2020 would I even have come across this book, in one of my many neighborhood walks and visits to neighborhood little libraries. Someone got rid of that book, and I picked it up. I love writing for children and young adults, and I certainly love sci-fi. On that hot July day, I came across My Teacher Flunked the Planet and knew it had to be mine!

Please give it a “clap” and otherwise share, as that helps with distribution. Here’s the link again. Enjoy!

Audio of yesterday's Morning Air interview

I spoke with John and Glen on Morning Air yesterday for about a full 20 minutes. Hoo-wee! You can listen to that convo in the player here.

John wisely observed up top that we ought not to get too ahead of ourselves re: planning ahead, but 30 days is not much, my friends. Make your decision now about committing time and energy toward being with Jesus in these last few weeks of the year. Really make it count, not for any external reason (there’s no prize here), but because God desires a relationship with us and because, well, it’s good for you.

Here’s the Bishop Barron devotional I mention. But you don’t have to copy me; there’s a million resources out there. Find an online retreat! Find a virtual candle wreath, if that’s a thing. You know what to do. If you don’t, send me a message.