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577 pp.
| Penguin/Firebird
| March, 2009
|
TradeISBN 978-0-14-240552-9$19.99
(2)
YA
Illustrated by
Mike Dringenberg.
Innovative narrative construction, explorations of the fuzzy border between fantasy and reality, and an excellent balance of well- and lesser-known authors characterize this latest Firebirds anthology. With all original tales and not a weak entry in the bunch, here is a worthy addition to the rich canon of speculative fiction.
Reviewer: Claire E. Gross
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
July, 2009
214 pp.
| Penguin/Firebird
| March, 2008
|
TradeISBN 978-0-14-240816-2$11.99
(4)
YA
Miguel has a boring life until he meets the new girl in town who just happens to be a shape-shifting dingo. Suddenly he's traveling to Australia in his dreams and battling for both of their lives. Though the story can be a little slow, bogged down with exposition, it is nonetheless original and generally enthralling.
179 pp.
| Penguin/Firebird
| April, 2007
|
TradeISBN 978-0-14-240718-9$11.99
(4)
YA
Orphan Hayley goes to stay with her excitable relatives. She and her cousins play a forbidden game exploring the mythosphere: an alternate world peopled by mythological archetypes. Though the shifts between Hayley's reality and the dreamlike mythosphere are disjointed, and readers unversed in mythology and astronomy may be lost, the author's lyrical presentation of the hero's journey is innovative.
195 pp.
| Penguin/Firebird
| October, 2007
|
TradeISBN 978-0-14-240922-0$11.99
(4)
YA
In a futuristic celebrity-obsessed society, practical-minded misfit Jet accompanies her shallow family to "movie capital" Ollywood, where she and her faithful robot dog, Otis, are sucked into a bizarre fantasy dimension of failed B-movies and TV pilots. The plot and setting are innovative and the protagonists dryly sympathetic, but Lee too often puts metaphor and satire ahead of story.
421 pp.
| Penguin/Firebird
| September, 2003
|
TradeISBN 0-14-250142-5$$19.99
(2)
YA
This anthology of new fantasy published specifically for the YA market is a strong collection. Several of the sixteen richly varied stories use traditional material as a springboard; others are entirely original. There are a few anomalies: Lloyd Alexander's tragicomic story is more social commentary than fantasy, and Elizabeth E. Wein's "Chasing the Wind"--one of the best stories in the collection--is entirely realistic.