From the Bookshelf of Around the Year in 52 Books …
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
Read for Read Harder Challenge's Task 22. Read a collection of stories by a woman.
I would never have picked this book if not for Read harder Challange, and I'm so happy I did.
It was such a peculiar, different sort of story book. At first I thought it;s some kind of children book but no, although all main characters are children,teenagers it's for adult.
Every story is somehow heartbreaking and dark and imaginary at the same time. So happy I chose it. ...more
I would never have picked this book if not for Read harder Challange, and I'm so happy I did.
It was such a peculiar, different sort of story book. At first I thought it;s some kind of children book but no, although all main characters are children,teenagers it's for adult.
Every story is somehow heartbreaking and dark and imaginary at the same time. So happy I chose it. ...more
this is a collection of short stories that i wanted to like better than i did. perhaps the issue is that the stories were a bit fantastical--something about children being so frequently raised by wolves that an entire school had to be built in order to teach these children & integrate them into normal human society. an entire city made up of enormous seashells, big enough for people to live inside. two brother who steal boats & go diving every night in search of their drowned sister, finally dis
...more
Another difficult to rate.
There were bits I liked. Bits I liked a lot. The magical. The understanding... Karen moves with ease between all kinds of people... I find her people believable.
Then there were bits I didn't like. Like 12 years old having sex.
The culture shock of the first story, about the alligator farm. Or, what culture. People have been pushed so far out from the society they don't have any culture, any traditions beyond two generations, any memories or ancestors, any connection w ...more
There were bits I liked. Bits I liked a lot. The magical. The understanding... Karen moves with ease between all kinds of people... I find her people believable.
Then there were bits I didn't like. Like 12 years old having sex.
The culture shock of the first story, about the alligator farm. Or, what culture. People have been pushed so far out from the society they don't have any culture, any traditions beyond two generations, any memories or ancestors, any connection w ...more
What everyone else said: strong, well-written stories with fantastical elements, all way way too similar to each other in tone and style. The settings were all imaginative and very different, but nearly every story was written in the first person voice of a 12 year old with a grief-stricken past. I'd love to see the author branch out more, because her ideas are really cool and she writes well.
People who liked this should definitely check out Maureen McHugh and Kelly Link. ...more
People who liked this should definitely check out Maureen McHugh and Kelly Link. ...more
Feb 21, 2011
Allison
marked it as to-read
Apr 15, 2011
Shannon McCarty
marked it as dropped
Jun 28, 2011
Erica Renée
marked it as to-read
Apr 04, 2013
MichelleCH
marked it as to-read
Jul 21, 2014
Kate
marked it as to-read
Dec 29, 2015
Beth F
marked it as to-read
Jan 13, 2018
Holli
marked it as to-read
Dec 11, 2018
Lauren
marked it as to-read
Dec 29, 2018
Awallens
marked it as to-read
Jan 04, 2020
Lexi V.
marked it as to-read
Dec 08, 2020
Theresa Wright
marked it as to-read
Apr 23, 2022
Jill
marked it as to-read
Oct 30, 2024
Shani
marked it as to-read










