A collection of stories that explores the speculative and sometimes-dystopian landscape, authored solely by women from India and Australia.
A multiverse that bursts with imagination, this anthology lures readers into a nonlinear progression of stories, both prose and graphic, and one script. There’s Isobelle Carmody and Prabha Mallya’s graphic sci-fi story “The Runners,” which imagines a world ruled by mothers and offers a Twilight Zone–esque surprise ending. In “Arctic Light,” by Vandana Singh, an Indian teenager is a stowaway undercover activist fighting for climate change on a ship sailing the East Siberian Sea. Kirsty Murray’s “Mirror Perfect” transports a girl and her younger twin siblings into a parallel universe, a dreamlike reality check that challenges her negative body image. This anthology represents a delightfully diverse collection of contributing authors, who also include Margo Lanagan, Justine Larbalestier, and Samhita Arni, among others. In a unique collaboration, the creators were partnered together into culture-bending exchanges of themes, worlds, and galaxies in an effort to expand their visions of their own cultures, some pairs crafting one story between the two but all sharing ideas. The editors rightly claim that their anthology “embraces the idea of not just eating pie but of taking big, hungry mouthfuls of life and embracing the world.”
This rare treat of speculative literature is a winning book for those young women who especially crave a read beyond the outer limits. (Science fiction/fantasy/anthology. 14 & up)Pub Date: March 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7057-5
Page Count: 240
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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Part coming-of-age story and part exposé of Duterte’s problematic policies, this powerful and courageous story offers...
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Seventeen-year-old Jay Reguero searches for the truth about his cousin’s death amid President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs while on an epic trip back to his native Philippines.
Shocked out of his senioritis slumber when his beloved cousin Jun is killed by the police in the Philippines for presumably using drugs, Jay makes a radical move to spend his spring break in the Philippines to find out the whole story. Once pen pals, Jay hasn’t corresponded with Jun in years and is wracked by guilt at ghosting his cousin. A mixed heritage (his mother is white) Filipino immigrant who grew up in suburban Michigan, Jay’s connection to current-day Philippines has dulled from assimilation. His internal tensions around culture, identity, and languages—as “a spoiled American”—are realistic. Told through a mix of first-person narration, Jun’s letters to Jay, and believable dialogue among a strong, full cast of characters, the result is a deeply emotional story about family ties, addiction, and the complexity of truth. The tender relationship between Jay and Jun is especially notable—as is the underlying commentary about the challenges and nuances between young men and their uncles, fathers, male friends, and male cousins.
Part coming-of-age story and part exposé of Duterte’s problematic policies, this powerful and courageous story offers readers a refreshingly emotional depiction of a young man of color with an earnest desire for the truth. (author’s note, recommended reading) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 18, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-55491-2
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Kokila
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
21
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Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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