Toil & Trouble

July 1, 2018

Gr 7 Up-This anthology features stories about witches from the past, present, and near-future, all written by female authors. There are trained witches, witches coming into their powers, and the falsely accused. The girls come from a wide variety of backgrounds and are often forced to deal with circumstances not of their own making. In "Beware of Girls with Crooked Mouths" by coeditor Spotswood, Jo gets a vision of the future and takes matters into her own hands despite how it may impact her sisters. "The Gherin Girls" by Emery Lord takes focuses on the power of sisterhood and supporting one another. "Why They Watch Us Burn" is a haunting dystopian story reminiscent of The Handmaid's Tale, where women are subjugated and called witches for not falling in line with mainstream authority. "Divine Are the Stars" by Zoraida Córdova is a story steeped in magical realism and one of a few inspired by Latinx culture and folklore. Several entries involve LGBTQ+ protagonists, as in "The Heart in Her Hands" by coeditor Sharpe, where Bettina Clarke receives her soulmark (the mark of her soulmate) but is less than thrilled by its appearance and what it represents. While some stories include mild sexual content, mentions of rape, and abusive relationships, the writing remains non-graphic, making it appropriate for younger teens. VERDICT An additional purchase where contributing authors are popular or where anthologies are in demand.-Rebecca Greer, Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative, FL

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2018
A short story collection that illustrates the multitudes of girlhood, womanhood, and magic. The 16 stories in this anthology let readers traverse many worlds, from a puritanical religious community in 17th-century New England in "Afterbirth" by Andrea Cremer to the 1970s South of "The Legend of Stone Mary" by Robin Talley and the modern-day social media-laden landscape of "Starsong" by Tehlor Kay Mejia. The contributors include many top names in young adult literature, including Nova Ren Suma, Zoraida Córdova, and Anna-Marie McLemore. In "Starsong," Esperanza Luna Mendoza Stevens offers magical advice to people via social media and flirts with another girl, a NASA-loving skeptic, through direct messaging. In "The Truth About Queenie" by Brandy Colbert, black teen Queenie is afraid to use her powers to heal after her unwitting casting of a spell results in a terrible tragedy. Shveta Thakrar's "The Moonapple Menagerie" opens with a few lines from Yeats, the perfect complement to her lyrical, South Asian-infused story of a small coven and a terrible bargain. Several stories explore sexual assault, and one addresses the effects of emotional abuse on a family. There are also stories with LGBT content, including one that features a nonbinary character. A couple of stories resort to the white default, but this powerful and diverse collection is perfect for fans of female-led fantasy stories.No damsels in distress to be found here. (author bios) (Fantasy. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from October 22, 2018
In this provocative, eclectic collection, 16 tales explore the many facets of witchcraft and its practitioners. Settings range from the historical to the contemporary and from factual to outright fantastical; protagonists are culturally and ethnically diverse with substantial LGBTQ representation; and the major unifying theme is female empowerment. Standouts include Tehlor Kay Mejia’s “Starsong,” the tale of an astrologer who finds her match in a scientist, and Robin Talley’s “The Legend of Stone Mary,” in which the descendant of an unjustly murdered witch faces a lingering curse. Many feel like preambles to more expansive narratives, but as standalone pieces, they surely satisfy. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. Ages 12–up.

Starred review from May 1, 2018
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* There are two lessons that witches throughout literature and pop culture have learned over and over: that magic has a price, and that magic is often tied to pain. The witches in this collection of 15 stories learn those lessons to powerful effect. The tone of the stories ranges from breezy to devastating, the settings from historical to dystopian, the genres from romance to revenge fantasy. But at the heart of each is a girl (or girls) learning to discover her power. Standouts include Brandy Colbert's The Truth about Queenie, about a young African American witch reluctant to embrace her abilities; Nova Ren Suma's The One Who Stayed, a wrenching, collective narrative from a group that witnesses a trauma; Jessica Spotswood's Beware of Girls with Crooked Mouths, which features three sisters trying to outrun a family curse; and Elizabeth May's The Handmaid's Tale-esque While They Watch Us Burn, ends the collection in a chilling near-future in which women are rounded up and accused of witchcraft. It's not a flawless collection?not all the stories have quite the same emotional heft?but the collective impact is undeniably resounding, and the particularly strong back half will leave readers more than a little bewitched themselves.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

Starred review from July 1, 2018
A short story collection that illustrates the multitudes of girlhood, womanhood, and magic. The 16 stories in this anthology let readers traverse many worlds, from a puritanical religious community in 17th-century New England in "Afterbirth" by Andrea Cremer to the 1970s South of "The Legend of Stone Mary" by Robin Talley and the modern-day social media-laden landscape of "Starsong" by Tehlor Kay Mejia. The contributors include many top names in young adult literature, including Nova Ren Suma, Zoraida C�rdova, and Anna-Marie McLemore. In "Starsong," Esperanza Luna Mendoza Stevens offers magical advice to people via social media and flirts with another girl, a NASA-loving skeptic, through direct messaging. In "The Truth About Queenie" by Brandy Colbert, black teen Queenie is afraid to use her powers to heal after her unwitting casting of a spell results in a terrible tragedy. Shveta Thakrar's "The Moonapple Menagerie" opens with a few lines from Yeats, the perfect complement to her lyrical, South Asian-infused story of a small coven and a terrible bargain. Several stories explore sexual assault, and one addresses the effects of emotional abuse on a family. There are also stories with LGBT content, including one that features a nonbinary character. A couple of stories resort to the white default, but this powerful and diverse collection is perfect for fans of female-led fantasy stories.No damsels in distress to be found here. (author bios) (Fantasy. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2018

Gr 7 Up-This anthology features stories about witches from the past, present, and near-future, all written by female authors. There are trained witches, witches coming into their powers, and the falsely accused. The girls come from a wide variety of backgrounds and are often forced to deal with circumstances not of their own making. In "Beware of Girls with Crooked Mouths" by coeditor Spotswood, Jo gets a vision of the future and takes matters into her own hands despite how it may impact her sisters. "The Gherin Girls" by Emery Lord takes focuses on the power of sisterhood and supporting one another. "Why They Watch Us Burn" is a haunting dystopian story reminiscent of The Handmaid's Tale, where women are subjugated and called witches for not falling in line with mainstream authority. "Divine Are the Stars" by Zoraida C�rdova is a story steeped in magical realism and one of a few inspired by Latinx culture and folklore. Several entries involve LGBTQ+ protagonists, as in "The Heart in Her Hands" by coeditor Sharpe, where Bettina Clarke receives her soulmark (the mark of her soulmate) but is less than thrilled by its appearance and what it represents. While some stories include mild sexual content, mentions of rape, and abusive relationships, the writing remains non-graphic, making it appropriate for younger teens. VERDICT An additional purchase where contributing authors are popular or where anthologies are in demand.-Rebecca Greer, Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative, FL

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.