Magic in the Mirrorstone, ed. by Steve Berman
This collection of fifteen short fantasy stories are by some of the top names among authors who write for teens and adults: Cecil Castellucci, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Nini Kiriki Hoffman, and Jim Hines, among others. The stories all address familiar topics (dating, families, bullies at school and home, friendship, justice, revenge), with an element of magic added to complicate (or sometimes solve) the problems. Many of the stories are contemporary urban fantasy, though a few take place in other fantasy worlds, such as Laurence M. Schoen's "The Amulet of Winter," which tells the story of a thief who is confronted with the disquieting results of his biggest job: to steal an amulet from a city that depends upon it for survival. Some stories are retellings of familiar fairy tales, such as Eugie Foster's "Princess Bufo marinus, Also Known As Amy", which imagines the frog prince story taking place in an average high school. Some of the best stories are the revenge ones, as far as I'm concerned, such as Cassandra Clare's "Have You Ever Seen a Shoggoth?" and Sean Manseau's "Veronica Brown", where the bullies, one an entire school and one a mean older sister, meet bloody and/or horrible ends. The stories range from funny to weird to bittersweet to a little bit scary, so there's something here for everyone who enjoys fantasy and magic.
We have this book in a display on the main floor, but it will be shelved with the short story collection on the second floor later. The call number is SC M194.