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A review by snazel
Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories by Alisa Krasnostein
5.0
Cookie Cutter Superhero— Tansy Rayner Roberts— 5/5
A teenage girl is chosen by the lottery to be a new superhero. She's worried about what this means. Will she be disliked because her presence removes the popular Astra? Because of course, there can only be one girl on the team at a time. Will she miss too much school? What will her teammates treat her like? And will the superhero machine "fix" her handless arm?
This one is fabulous. I read it and then went around shoving the book at people. "Read the first story! Read it! I don't know about the others yet, but read the first story!"
The Seventh Day of the Seventh Moon— Ken Liu 5/5
Jing is going to America to study english. Yuan must stay behind. Jing wants to break up so that her girlfriend isn't trapped, Yuan doesn't care, she wants to stay together. "I'll text you in English, I'll do anything."
It's a story about love, and about parting, and it's lovely.
The Legend Trap— Sean Williams 4/5
Three teens test an urban myth. Can the de-materialization booth REALLY take you to the universe next door if you treat it right? And what does that mean? And how do they get back?
NOTHING GOOD EVER COMES OF TESTING URBAN LEGENDS. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.
End of Service— Gabrila Lee 4/5
Aya's mum is an overseas worker. She's been gone for most of Aya's life. When she dies, Aya doesn't know how to grieve for this person she hardly knows. The situation isn't helped by the secrets everyone is keeping.
Good GRAVY that one was good. What is wrong with this anthology? How is it so good?
Chupacabra's Song— Jim C. Hines
The local vet (and his assistant) get more than they expected when the wounded animal a neighbour brings in is magical— and followed by hunters.
This one wasn't to my taste, but I don't have music-based magic, so I'm not going to criticize how it works here.
The Day the God Died— Alena McNamara
Sometimes things don't end in a satisfying way. Usually they don't. The death of a god fits that pattern, for sure.
Signature— Faith Mudge 5/5
Rumplestitskin, or his (her?) ilk, is still out there granting desperate desires in return for heart's desires.
Eheheheheheheheheheheheh. Look at my delight. I have SO MUCH OF IT for this story.
The Lovely Duckling— Tim Susman
Mara P. wants to become a shifter, to travel into the otherlands in the shape of a Condor, and live on a mountain, and to be Mark, not Mara. Mr. P thinks this is just a phase and the best way to treat it is to keep his daughter far away from the shifter school.
I really like the found-footage style of this one, and I want more in this world.
Kiss and Kiss and Kiss and Tell— E. C. Myers
The latest drug in school is Nemo, which lets you see into the future with someone you're kissing. But Rene is able to see much farther into the future than anyone else, and she starts researching what that means. Is it a hallucination her anti-psychotics can't control, or something else?
Vanilla— Dirk Flinthart
Kylie's school has aliens in attendance, which is doesn't make her teenage years any more complicated than they normally would be. Well, except for the one thing with the perfume.
This is a story about belonging and friendship, and the mistakes that come with teenager hood, and another stellar one. Well done.
Careful Magic— Karen Healey
Karen is a Careful mage, an aberration in a world where nearly everyone else is oriented to Chaos.
I WANT AN ENTIRE TRILOGY IN THIS WORLD.
Walkdog— Sofia Samatar
Celebration— Sean Eads
Jim is trying to look on the bright side about going to gay re-education camp— at least he'll meet other gay guys— but he didn't expect the telepathic recon team.
The Truth About Owls— Amar El-Mohtar
I don't know how to describe this one. A girl has a power, or doesn't. She curses her father, or doesn't. She learns welsh to understand owls. Anyways (I've been reading for a while today and I'm losing language), it's lovely.
Krishna Blue— Shveta Thakrar
Every Little Thing— Holly Kench
Friends sympathize with you over crushes. BEST friends out themselves as nerds to cause a distraction while you're in the process of setting a love spell.
Happy Go Lucky— Garth Nix
Starts out cheerful, and gets SUPER dark. Whoa, Garth.
Ordinary Things— Vylar Kaftan
Double Time— John Chu
John Chu is a master of taking one— often somewhat silly— fantastic idea and making the best story out of it. I don't just mean the best story he can make, I mean the best story. He's flipping phenomenal. In this one, competitive figure skating has embraced time hops so that competitors can skate programs with themselves, and this is used to discuss expectations, achievement, and family.
SHELLEY FOR THE GOLD.
Welcome— William Alexander
A teenage girl is chosen by the lottery to be a new superhero. She's worried about what this means. Will she be disliked because her presence removes the popular Astra? Because of course, there can only be one girl on the team at a time. Will she miss too much school? What will her teammates treat her like? And will the superhero machine "fix" her handless arm?
This one is fabulous. I read it and then went around shoving the book at people. "Read the first story! Read it! I don't know about the others yet, but read the first story!"
The Seventh Day of the Seventh Moon— Ken Liu 5/5
Jing is going to America to study english. Yuan must stay behind. Jing wants to break up so that her girlfriend isn't trapped, Yuan doesn't care, she wants to stay together. "I'll text you in English, I'll do anything."
It's a story about love, and about parting, and it's lovely.
The Legend Trap— Sean Williams 4/5
Three teens test an urban myth. Can the de-materialization booth REALLY take you to the universe next door if you treat it right? And what does that mean? And how do they get back?
NOTHING GOOD EVER COMES OF TESTING URBAN LEGENDS. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU.
End of Service— Gabrila Lee 4/5
Aya's mum is an overseas worker. She's been gone for most of Aya's life. When she dies, Aya doesn't know how to grieve for this person she hardly knows. The situation isn't helped by the secrets everyone is keeping.
Good GRAVY that one was good. What is wrong with this anthology? How is it so good?
Chupacabra's Song— Jim C. Hines
The local vet (and his assistant) get more than they expected when the wounded animal a neighbour brings in is magical— and followed by hunters.
This one wasn't to my taste, but I don't have music-based magic, so I'm not going to criticize how it works here.
The Day the God Died— Alena McNamara
Sometimes things don't end in a satisfying way. Usually they don't. The death of a god fits that pattern, for sure.
Signature— Faith Mudge 5/5
Rumplestitskin, or his (her?) ilk, is still out there granting desperate desires in return for heart's desires.
Eheheheheheheheheheheheh. Look at my delight. I have SO MUCH OF IT for this story.
The Lovely Duckling— Tim Susman
Mara P. wants to become a shifter, to travel into the otherlands in the shape of a Condor, and live on a mountain, and to be Mark, not Mara. Mr. P thinks this is just a phase and the best way to treat it is to keep his daughter far away from the shifter school.
I really like the found-footage style of this one, and I want more in this world.
Kiss and Kiss and Kiss and Tell— E. C. Myers
The latest drug in school is Nemo, which lets you see into the future with someone you're kissing. But Rene is able to see much farther into the future than anyone else, and she starts researching what that means. Is it a hallucination her anti-psychotics can't control, or something else?
Vanilla— Dirk Flinthart
Kylie's school has aliens in attendance, which is doesn't make her teenage years any more complicated than they normally would be. Well, except for the one thing with the perfume.
This is a story about belonging and friendship, and the mistakes that come with teenager hood, and another stellar one. Well done.
Careful Magic— Karen Healey
Karen is a Careful mage, an aberration in a world where nearly everyone else is oriented to Chaos.
I WANT AN ENTIRE TRILOGY IN THIS WORLD.
Walkdog— Sofia Samatar
Celebration— Sean Eads
Jim is trying to look on the bright side about going to gay re-education camp— at least he'll meet other gay guys— but he didn't expect the telepathic recon team.
The Truth About Owls— Amar El-Mohtar
I don't know how to describe this one. A girl has a power, or doesn't. She curses her father, or doesn't. She learns welsh to understand owls. Anyways (I've been reading for a while today and I'm losing language), it's lovely.
Krishna Blue— Shveta Thakrar
Every Little Thing— Holly Kench
Friends sympathize with you over crushes. BEST friends out themselves as nerds to cause a distraction while you're in the process of setting a love spell.
Happy Go Lucky— Garth Nix
Starts out cheerful, and gets SUPER dark. Whoa, Garth.
Ordinary Things— Vylar Kaftan
Double Time— John Chu
John Chu is a master of taking one— often somewhat silly— fantastic idea and making the best story out of it. I don't just mean the best story he can make, I mean the best story. He's flipping phenomenal. In this one, competitive figure skating has embraced time hops so that competitors can skate programs with themselves, and this is used to discuss expectations, achievement, and family.
SHELLEY FOR THE GOLD.
Welcome— William Alexander