Oddly Enough

by Bruce Coville

Overview

A collection of nine short stories featuring an angel, unicorn, vampire, werewolf, and other unusual creatures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544988101
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/20/2016
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
Lexile:	740L (what's this?)
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

BRUCE COVILLE is the author of over 100 books for children and young adults, including the international bestseller My Teacher is an Alien, the Unicorn Chronicles series, and the much-beloved Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher. His work has appeared in a dozen languages and won children's choice awards in a dozen states. Before becoming a full time writer Bruce was a teacher, a toymaker, a magazine editor, a gravedigger, and a cookware salesman. He is also the creator of Full Cast Audio, an audiobook company devoted to producing full cast, unabridged recordings of material for family listening and has produced over a hundred audiobooks, directing and/or acting in most of them. Bruce lives in Syracuse, New York, with his wife, illustrator and author Katherine Coville.

Editorial Reviews

In a concluding note, Coville explains that he never thought of himself as a short story writer. Thank goodness writer-editor Jane Yolen persisted in "thumping him on the head (metaphorically speaking)" so that he would keep writing short fiction. Only three of the nine stories in this collection are first-time publications, but if they are any indication, Coville is really becoming proficient in the genre: "The Language of Blood" is an eerie tale about a ritual of drinking blood; the hilarious "Clean as a Whistle" features a messy girl who inherits a family brownie with a penchant for neatness; and "A Blaze of Glory" concerns a boy's learning about elves and promises from his dying grandmother. An angel, unicorns, ghosts, werewolves, and executioners populate the other equally satisfying and unsettling stories. The volume will be illustrated by Michael Hussar, whose striking jacket painting will capture readers' attention.

Chris Sherman

Deliciously chilling... will make readers laugh out loud with relief and pleasure.

Library Journal School

The Full Cast Audio Family engagingly narrates this collection featuring varied odd tales. With characters ranging from brownies to vampires, forest-dwelling sentinels, and fairies, this is a well-paced and enjoyable recording. Bruce Coville himself narrates several stories, and excellent choices were made for other prominent voices. With the eerily discordant musical interludes between stories, listeners will find no temptation to stop listening. Especially gripping are “Duffy’s Jacket,” a story about a boy who will never again forget his things; “The Box,” about a man who guards a box his whole life without ever knowing its contents, and “The Language of Blood,” an interesting Asian-inspired vampire story. J.M. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

FEBRUARY 2011 - AudioFile