Steve "Sneeze" Wyatt attempts to thwart his parents' plan to have him skip eighth grade, but he has bigger problems when his friends disapprove of his new list and Mrs. "Fierce" Pierce threatens to keep him from the Invention Convention.

From ultra high-tech weaponry to off-planet combat, this collection examines the conflicts of the future from some of the greatest minds in science fiction. Stories by Tony Daniel, Philip Dick, Joe Haldeman, Geoffrey Landis, Paul McAuley, Ian McDonald, Alastair Reynolds, Lucius Shepard, Allen Steele and Gardner Dozois.

I have a dog. An inconvenient dog. When I wake up, my dog is inconvenient. When I'm getting dressed, my dog is inconvenient. And when I'm making tunnels, my dog is SUPER inconvenient. But sometimes, an inconvenient dog can be big and warm and cuddly. Sometimes, an inconvenient dog can be the most comforting friend in the whole wide world.