With a high school graduate in the house, the topic of career choice has received a fair amount of attention in recent months. The picture books draw attention to three individuals with uncommon careers, at least for their time. Allan Pinkerton established the famed detective agency, which was at the height of its power from the 1870s to the 1890s. Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland numbered among the very few female journalists in the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries.
I Want Golden Eyes: Futuristic YA Sci-Fi from the Middle East
I Want Golden Eyes, by Maria Dadouch, trans. M. Lynx Qualey and Sawad Hussain (Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Austin, 2025, 184 pp, ages 12-18)
In the year 2095, Quartzia is a sharply segregated city in which the majority of citizens—the Limited—live underground, in the Burrow. The privileged ruling class—the Goldens—live above ground in a city of quartz domes.
Supposedly, the factor that determines who lives where is IQ—whether one scores above or below 1111 at birth. Protagonist Diyala, however, uncovers suggestions that other factors are involved in the distribution of assets. Also tellingly, the Limiteds are forbidden to read; it turns out that reading raises one’s IQ.
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