This terrific anthology of short stories caught my eye in our Young Adult collection the other day. Equal parts fantasy and horror genre, I was impressed with how complicated and mature these stories are. Each has a young adult main character and the stories are told through their eyes, but this is definitely a collection that adults will enjoy as well. As always, it’s hard to describe the whole of a collection of short stories when the author has done her job to make them unique and interesting, but there are some larger themes and motifs that emerged when I read through this book:
Bad Poetry- who knew that it could be such a force for evil? “Magic For Beginners” has a character whose poetry is so bad, you’ll die if you hear it. (An homage to the Vogon poetry from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, no doubt.)
Places That No One Has Ever Heard Of- fantasy locations are pretty common for fantasy stories, but these are places that even the characters in the stories themselves think may be made up. Genevieve’s grandmother Zofia Swink is a little strange. Of course, this is because she still clings tightly to the traditions of the old country, Baldeziwurlekistan. Genevieve has never seen it on a map, never heard anyone mention it, but she begins to think it might be real as the story unfolds in “The Faery Handbag.”
Death- most of these stories feature main characters who have had loved ones die. Teenagers with deceased, absent, or neglectful parents are common in young adult fiction, but “The Wrong Grave” deals with the issue of a loved one’s death in a novel way that is equal parts funny and terrifying.
Libraries or Librarians- an easy sell for someone working in a library. Yes, it’s common knowledge that us library types love books about our favorite place or ourselves, but maybe you do too. In the chilling tale “The Specialist’s Hat,” Claire and Samantha’s father spends so much time in the library at their old and haunted house, that he doesn’t notice the new babysitter, a young woman he didn’t hire for the job.
A Story Within a Story- sometimes a little confusing, but Link uses the idea of a story within a story to heighten the fantasy. Clementine’s story of unrequited love is read by Lee as she and her friends plan an initiation “Ordeal” for one of their classmates from their all-girls boarding school in “Pretty Monsters.” The two stories seem unrelated, but weave together at the end as the “Ordeal” goes sour. There’s also a plot twist which will leave you hoping that Kelly Link will write another series of stories as compelling as these.
Most of these stories seemed a little longer than the average short story, but not without reason. Kelly Link’s plots are more complicated than the average short and she also spends more time developing character backgrounds. All in all, a great read, for teens or adults who are ready to be scared or at least a little creeped out.
Check the WRL catalog for Pretty Monsters.
