Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft

by Tess Sharpe, Jessica Spotswood

Overview

This extraordinary collection of fifteen stories celebrates witches using their power and claiming their destinies.

THERE'S NOTHING MORE POWERFUL THAN A WITCH WHO BELIEVES IN HERSELF.

Women accused of witchcraft. Fearsome girls with arcane knowledge. Toil & Trouble features fifteen stories of girls embracing their power, reclaiming their destinies, and using their magic to create, to curse, to cure, to kill…and to live.

A young witch uses social media to connect with her astrology clients—and with a NASA-loving girl as cute as she is skeptical. A priestess of death investigates a ritualized murder. A bruja who cures lovesickness might need the remedy herself when she falls for an altar boy. A theater production is turned upside down by a visiting churel. A water witch uses her magic to survive the soldiers who have invaded her desert oasis. And in the near future, a group of girls accused of witchcraft must find their collective power…and destroy their captors.

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A TEEN WITCH!

Featuring stories by:
Tehlor Kay Mejia
Andrea Robertson
Tess Sharpe
Lindsay Smith
Brandy Colbert
Shveta Thakrar
Robin Talley
Nova Ren Suma
Zoraida Córdova
Brenna Yovanoff
Kate Hart
Jessica Spotswood
Anna-Marie McLemore
Emery Lord
Elizabeth May

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781335424372
Publisher:	Inkyard Press
Publication date:	09/07/2021
Edition description:	First Time Trade
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	455,890
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

TESS SHARPE (she/her) is the author of books for children, teens and adults, including Far From You and The Girls I've Been. She lives in the backwoods with a pack of dogs and a cabal of slightly feral forest cats.

Jessica Spotswood is also the editor of the feminist historical anthologies A Tyranny of Petticoats and The Radical Element. She is the author of the Cahill Witch Chronicles and the contemporary novels Wild Swans and The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls. Tess Sharpe is the author of the young adult mystery Far From You and the feminist thriller for adults Barbed Wire Heart. She lives in the backwoods with a pack of dogs and a cabal of slightly feral forest cats.

Editorial Reviews

"...this powerful and diverse collection is perfect for fans of female-led fantasy stories. No damsels in distress to be found here." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"At the heart of each [story] is a girl (or girls) learning to discover her power...The collective impact is undeniably resounding, and the particularly strong back half will leave readers more than a little bewitched themselves." –Booklist (starred review)

"[A] provocative, eclectic collection." –Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This collection brings together short, witchy stories from fifteen brilliant YA authors...It's a whole lot of magical fun, and a definite must-read for all the witches in your life." –Bustle

From the Publisher

★ 10/22/2018
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. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

07/01/2018
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

School Library Journal

★ 2018-06-18
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)

Kirkus Reviews