Galaxy Girl and the November Monstrosity

by Aleksandra Hill, LeVar Burton (Narrator)

A superhero returns home for Thanksgiving.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Audiobook, Fantasy, Science Fiction

1 pages, Audiobook

Published November 14, 2023

About the author

Aleksandra Hill is a Polish-Canadian speculative fiction writer and the founder of khōréō, a magazine of speculative fiction by immigrant and diaspora writers. She earned an MFA at the New School in Fiction and Non-Fiction writing and is an alumna of the Odyssey Writers Workshop. In past lives, she earned a Ph.D. in computational biology and worked as a management consultant and a product manager.

Reviews

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
I saw the resolution coming, but I really liked the interaction between the main character and the local clerk.

I think that this could have been a lot more, but maybe that's unfair to say of a short story.

I did really like the line of "I'm trying to deserve this" when referring to her 'super power'. Although the more I think about, I'd say that learning to control it the way she mentions gets her most of the way there in my book plus being willing to help when there's a fire.

Ugh, I also struggled with the idea of a whole turkey being cooked for just three people, maybe it was a small turkey, but then wouldn't it have been easier to cook?

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Family relationships can be fraught with stressful dynamics that are hard to break, as Jessie finds as she visits her mother’s home for Thanksgiving. Although she is a superhero with fire-making skills, her mother puts her sister on a pedestal and nothing Jessie does or says prevents her mother’s catty comments. When she offers to help her sister out of an embarrassing problem, there just might be a crack in her frigid relationship with her.

I listened to this short story through the LeVar Burton Reads podcast.

[Chrysten Lofton · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0⭐“I want, suddenly, urgently, to save my sister from the inferno of my mother’s disappointment.”

**mild content spoilers**

♡ LBR 2023 ♡

I am so, SO happy to plug in with these stories again on LeVar Burton Reads. I took a couple years to get my associate, and I can’t begin to express how difficult it was to find a free half hour in a day. I’m out of the woods, at least for a little while, and when I saw the new season update, my heart skipped a beat. Feels like a homecoming, and here I am, late to the party.

This was so perfect for Thanksgiving. This is surprisingly loaded with deeper meaning, despite having a kind of airy easiness to how it reads. It hit me right in the heart. Family is a huge point of contention and discord for me, but it means everything to me to keep showing up. To keep trying. This story spoke to that.

Thanks for reading and if you wanna chat about the latest LBR episodes, come join us at the LeVar Burton Reads Official Community.

- 📚☕♥
Goodreads Official Star Representation
5 - It was amazing
4 - I really liked it
3 - I liked it
2 - It was okay
1 - Did not like it.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I liked this story, I felt there were some big holes in the story that really bugged me and ended up spoiling my enjoyment. Why are they making a huge Thanksgiving dinner for 3 people? Where is the father? I had so many questions that it really just ended up annoying me more than anything else.

[Skye · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars, not rounded
Listened via audiobook on LeVar Burton Reads

I didn't plan for this to be so timely, but it certainly was. The story goes almost exactly how you think it will, but the love story interlude was really well done.

[Jennifer Zeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new twist of the issues of grown-up children coming home for Thanksgiving. I loved this.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy a twist on the superhero narrative, but the family dynamics were tired.