Between the Stars / Kim Joo-young
Adolescence in the Strange Future / Kim Dong-sik
The Rabbit and the Jellyfish / Jeon Sam-hye
It's just that kind of constitution / Hong Ji-woon

SF X Puberty
A fantastic synergy of genre and subject matter

The sci-fi genre, brimming with novel ideas, meets the vibrant and ever-changing nature of adolescence, creating a truly explosive anthology.
Four science fiction writers have created works filled with amazing imagination and distinct individuality, centered around the keyword 'puberty.'

Science fiction literature, which depicts the future in detail using scientific methods, is greatly loved today, attracting readers' attention with its outrageous ideas and genre-specific fun.
The same goes for young adult science fiction novels featuring 'youth' as ​​the central characters, full of possibilities and curiosity about the future.
Among them, science fiction writers who are actively working across various fields have focused on teenagers entering the 'puberty' period and presented four works that clearly reveal their individual personalities.

The four novels included in 『Between the Stars』 all possess the characteristics and strengths of the science fiction genre, which imagines the future beyond the boundaries of time and space.
The four works, which cover a range of futures from near to distant, almost realistic ones, have something in common: they are deeply rooted in the society we live in.
It presents points that make us ponder how we should live if the future depicted in the work actually comes true, and also reveals the unique charm of science fiction that allows us to clearly see reality through the future.
The growing pains of adolescent boys and girls, their immature and clumsy emotions, and their struggles with identity all blend together with the genre's characteristics, and all four works powerfully capture the attention and hearts of readers.


In a slightly special and strange future
The emotions of adolescence that we inevitably experience

‘Change’ is a word that cannot be left out when expressing puberty.
Kim Dong-sik's work "A Strange Future of Puberty" and Hong Ji-woon's work "Just Because I'm That Kind of Physically" focus on the physical and mental changes that adolescents experience.
Children, experiencing more intense emotions than ever before, experiencing mood swings, opening their eyes to love, and going through physical changes as they grapple with self-identity, come alive in the author's works in a unique way.

"Strange Future Puberty" begins with the novel question, "How great would it be if I could control my mood at will?"
Additionally, each house is connected to an 'emotional energy pipe', and when you set the desired emotion and open the valve, a wave of emotional energy pours out, vividly depicting a future.
In it, instead of paying emotional taxes, people cover up and hide their uncomfortable states by emitting waves of 'joy' when they are sad, 'lethargy' when they cannot sleep, and 'hunger' when they have no appetite.
Yeji's parents are eagerly waiting for her to hit puberty, as she can produce her own emotional energy by attaching an energy self-generation patch during puberty, a time when emotions are intensely expressed.
As readers watch the characters trying to bring forward Yeji's elusive puberty and the characters trying to soak up the emotional energy waves, they will gradually begin to question themselves, just like Yeji.
'Is this world really a utopia?'
The author asks us whether we must choose between false happiness and real suffering to live a truly human life.

The main character B of "Just Because I'm That Kind of a Girl" develops feelings for his long-time friend G, but at the crucial moment when he's about to confess, he commits a terrible accident.
He was so excited that he blew fire with his nose towards G.
This work features a variety of characters with humorous yet plausible "dragon-half-blood" themes, such as an uncle who wears tinted glasses to hide his reptilian-like eyes in dangerous situations, and a grandmother who was thought to have had surgery for gallstones but was actually holding a Yeouiju.
Additionally, you can enjoy the rhythm of spoken language through the dialogue between characters that appears here and there in the form of a script.
As a family meeting is held to clearly reveal the truth behind the incident where B breathed fire through his nose and B's true feelings, the lies that B and his family tell are so naturally absorbed by the readers.



You and I, shining like stars from afar
A special experience from the future

It is clear that for adolescents, friendship is a complex, difficult, and influential relationship that is not easily concluded.
Kim Joo-young's work "Between the Stars," which is also the title of the anthology, deals with the unpredictable "friendship" of adolescence.

The protagonist, 'Na', whose mother, a security technician, suddenly disappeared and became an orphan, is unable to swear properly even when angry because of the punishment he received for swearing at school.
Every time I swear, a song from a music textbook flows out of my mouth, and a filter is activated that causes a waterfall of horrible bugs to pour out before my eyes.
'I' set out to make money by engaging in the 'body scan' trade, which is prohibited for minors.
The body scan is connected to an app and used to create a 'second body' that feels and functions in place of the connected person, leaving the real body safe.
Then, unlike me, I receive an unexpected offer from Jennifer, who grew up on a flowery path, to hand over my body scan.
As the title suggests, two people who seem as distant as two stars meet and become connected through a meeting. Can Jennifer and "I" truly become connected through a meeting? This work offers an opportunity to reflect on the thrilling and precious encounters with friends, and the bonds of friendship, no matter how far apart we become.

The work "The Rabbit and the Jellyfish" by Jeon Sam-hye, which arouses curiosity from the title itself, also deals with a rather special friendship.
Eun-yu and Ji-woo, born into the "hole generation" with a gaping hole in the middle of the newborn statistics, grow up receiving an education without ranking and competition under the educational motto, "Everyone is like a flower that blooms with a different fragrance."
However, Eun-yu feels the pressure to be different from others as she feels the contradiction of adults who force her to have her own opinions and originality.
Eun-yu heads to the Marine Life Experience Center to do an assignment where she has to take the rabbit's side in the pansori "Sugungga" and announce what animal whispered to the rabbit that it had no liver. There, she meets Ji-woo, who was born a genius and has been in the spotlight since he was young.
And as we talk together, we begin to think about what it means to live an ordinary life, something we have never learned before.
As readers look at the existence of fifteen people who are 'special but lonely' and 'not special but lonely' in a future mixed with anxiety and hope, they can think deeply about what true happiness is and the contradictions of the reality we face.

Readers will enjoy the pleasure of reading and the joy of imagining the future by reading these four works that stand out with their unique ideas and distinctive concepts.
You can enjoy the works with a light heart by immersing yourself in the future created by the four authors.
It's also good to reflect on ethical issues, exercise deep insight into the future, and carefully contemplate the meaning of life and adolescence.
It is also the readers' free choice to focus on which character and which future they will be immersed in.

I imagine 『Between the Stars』, filled with infinite possibilities like a future that has yet to arrive, meeting readers and each shining with their own special light.
Readers will never forget the special experience of meeting the children in the future, each burning hotly, wandering fiercely, and shaking beautifully in their own way.