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Back of Beyond
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From: Tana Elias <telias>
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 14:32:41 -0500
One more plug for Sarah Ellis, and then I'm done. If you don't read any of her other books, I hope you'll at least read Back of Beyond. It's quite a masterful collection of short stories - each featuring a young adult protagonist grappling with contemporary issues, but with subtle or not-so-subtle threads of the supernatural or unexplained throughout the stories. Ms. Ellis explained in her recent interview on the CCBC web page that this book was a departure for her in that she hadn't written for a young adult audience before, and adding the supernatural element allowed her the comfort level she needed to write to this audience in a way that she felt was effective. And effective it is. She manages to make the stories eerie enough to please those who like more traditional horror stories, and yet never lose sight of the contemporary teens and the problems they face.
Back of Beyond was published in the US in 1997, and was a CCBC Choice book that year. Another Canadian book of short stories with fantasy and science fiction themes is What If...? Amazing Stories, selected by Monica Hughes.
Tana Elias Madison (WI) Public Library
Received on Fri 17 Sep 1999 02:32:41 PM CDT
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 14:32:41 -0500
One more plug for Sarah Ellis, and then I'm done. If you don't read any of her other books, I hope you'll at least read Back of Beyond. It's quite a masterful collection of short stories - each featuring a young adult protagonist grappling with contemporary issues, but with subtle or not-so-subtle threads of the supernatural or unexplained throughout the stories. Ms. Ellis explained in her recent interview on the CCBC web page that this book was a departure for her in that she hadn't written for a young adult audience before, and adding the supernatural element allowed her the comfort level she needed to write to this audience in a way that she felt was effective. And effective it is. She manages to make the stories eerie enough to please those who like more traditional horror stories, and yet never lose sight of the contemporary teens and the problems they face.
Back of Beyond was published in the US in 1997, and was a CCBC Choice book that year. Another Canadian book of short stories with fantasy and science fiction themes is What If...? Amazing Stories, selected by Monica Hughes.
Tana Elias Madison (WI) Public Library
Received on Fri 17 Sep 1999 02:32:41 PM CDT
