Please help me find a short story...

[Mys]

Hi all...I'm wondering if anybody could help me locate a short story. Written in the 40's or 50's, I think, I was convinced its possible author was either Issac Asimov or Robert Heinlein. Or perhaps Arthur C Clarke. However after trying on and off for the past eighteen months to find it in their works, I've given up and have to concede that my memory is even more faulty than I thought.

The storyline is (roughly) about a very organised society where at adolescence children are selected for either an academic line of study or a more practical version ( such as farming.) A twin brother and sister live on a 'farm' with their parents. Their father is very chauvinistic and domineering and has decreed that the boy will be slated for Academic, and the girl will receive the training to take over the farm. Both the children are unhappy with this as each wishes to swap. The results arrive and such a reverse has occurred. There is a second follow-up story that follows the girl to 'uni', where mention is made of a central computer system such as 'multivac' or 'univac'.

I would be extremely grateful if anyone could help...this is slowly driving me insane. Well even more insane than normal.

Thanks in advance
Mys :confused:

[Ropie]

mention is made of a central computer system such as 'multivac' or 'univac'.

Well, I don't recognize the plot line but Multivac is most definitely an Isaac Asimov invention!

This (http://homepage.mac.com/jhjenkins/Asimov/Asimov.html) page is one of the most comprehensive Asimov sites - they'll probably be able to tell you if it's by him.

[Libo]

It sounds like 'Daughter' (with the followup story, 'Dull Drums') by Anne Mccaffrey republished in the collection Get Off the Unicorn in 1977.

Original publish dates are 1969 in The Many Worlds of Science Fiction, Ben Bova, ed. and 1973 in Future Quest, Roger Elwood, ed.

[Mys]

Apologies for the delayed response - periodically, my laptop likes to wipe all my bookmarks just to keep me on my toes. Takes me a while to get around to finding them all again.

Thank you so much, Libo. It was indeed those two stories I was looking for. I actually own just about all of McCaffery's works, but I was so convinced it was Asimov or Heinlein that I didn't even think of pulling her off the shelves. Much appreciated!

Thanks also for the effort, Ropie...even though I didn't find what I was looking for there, it reminded me of many half-forgotten Asimovs that I've misplaced over the years...I've had much fun looking them up :)

[Libo]

Glad to help (and to hear that I've done so). Good reading to you!

[Ealdric]

- periodically, my laptop likes to wipe all my bookmarks just to keep me on my toes. Takes me a while to get around to finding them all again.

Try exporting your bookmarks as an html document and save a copy in My Documents or some such place. Can be opened with any browser or FrontPage, Word, etc.

[Mys]

Thanks Ealdric :)

I actually have done that several times over the life of this laptop - however, the system falls down when I'm too lax to update the document. My own fault, I know.