Black Juice

From Barnes & Noble

Before you decide whether to read this short story collection, consider the raves: "From the stunning first story, these ten stories are mesmerizing." "Exquisite language; thought provoking and evocative." "Strange and startling, a glimpse into weird, wondrous, and sometimes terrifying worlds…remarkably different from most short stories aimed at teens." There's no mystery why Margo Lanagan's Black Juice won the Best Collection World Fantasy Award for 2005!

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“An intense and meaningful collection that lovers of strange worlds and people will enjoy.”

“From the stunning first story, these ten stories are mesmerizing.”

“An intense and meaningful collection that lovers of strange worlds and people will enjoy.”

Selected as the 2006 Michael L. Printz Honor Book and winner of the 2005 Best Collection and Best Short Fiction World Fantasy Award, these powerful stories will reverberate in your mind for years to come! Here are some of the ten stories that explore the dark side of human nature: "Singing My Sister Down," about a civilization that uses the tar pits to slowly execute criminals; "Sweet Pippit," in which elephants revolt after their sweet trainer Pippit is jailed; "Earthly Uses," where angels have voices "like a sheep flock, scattering in panic, the big ewes baying, the lambs squealing, all in the same sound" and iron wing claws. This is a powerful, evocative collection, not for faint-hearted readers; once started, though, almost every reader will have to finish all ten stories?—?it is that peculiar fascination we have with the dark side. KLIATT Codes: JSA—Recommended for junior and senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2004, HarperCollins, 259p., Ages 12 to adult.
—Sherry Hoy

Lanagan has written a collection of fantasy short stories that pulls the reader into a variety of cultures. Each story has vivid, believable characters that face conflicts with self, nature, and events. The "happily ever after" ending is not present, but rather depicts how individuals influenced by their culture face and deal with tragedy, turmoil, and grief. It is a most interesting read and the similarities and differences between the cultures are very enlightening. Each story is carefully written and High School English teachers may want to use some of the stories in their classrooms to promote discussions and writing activities. I believe each reader will have a favorite story and mine was tied between "Singing My Sister Down" and "Sweet Pippit." Even though there is darkness threaded throughout the stories, each is different from the others. Some proved to be disturbing while others opened my eyes to the variety of ways to deal with tragedies. Lanagan proves to be able to write an unusual short story collection for teens and manage to interweave sections of our everyday beliefs into something unknown. The stories certainly provide food for thought. I highly recommend this book for readers who want to explore literature and are not afraid to venture into the realm of viewing something that once was comfortable in their thoughts to something distressing. The title is most fitting. 2005 (orig. 2004), HarperCollins Publishers, Ages 16 up.
—Kathie M. Josephs

Gr 9 Up-Every selection in this rich collection is strange and startling, a glimpse into weird, wondrous, and sometimes terrifying worlds. "Singing My Sister Down," "House of the Many," and "Earthly Uses" use the death of a character to illustrate the trajectory that grief gives to those who surround those characters. In "Sweet Pippit," a group of elephants break from captivity to rescue the one human who can lead and love them. "Wooden Bride" centers on Matty Weir and her decision to change herself forever by participating in her town's anonymous group marriage ceremony, providing a sly, unconventional commentary on today's consumer-heavy wedding culture. "Red Nose Day" provides a glimpse into the hearts of two assassins who are killing clowns. "Yowlinin" is a story of ostracism and disaster; an outcast girl warns of a plague but is unheeded, with catastrophic results. The 10 stories all hover near a 20-page range. Lanagan uses beautiful, lyrical language to tell peculiar, disturbing tales. This collection may need some introduction, and would work especially well in a classroom setting; it is full of teachable moments. The selections are subtle and scary, and are remarkably different from most short stories aimed at teens. This book will satisfy readers hungry for intelligent, literary fantasies that effectively twist facets of our everyday world into something alien.-Sarah Couri, New York Public Library Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

These ten new tales from Down Under take readers to worlds like, yet tantalizingly unlike, their own. Two assassins target professional clowns in "Red Nose Day," a child learns who the real spiritual leader of his isolated ashram is only after he leaves and comes back, a dutiful granddaughter risks her life to attend an outdoor funeral in a toxic future. Several stories feature nonhumans, from toothy "Yowlinin" that burst catastrophically from the ground, to miracle-working but utterly repulsive angels ("Earthly Uses") and, in a tour de force exercise in narrative voice, a herd of trained elephants that sets out to rescue its beloved mahout, "Sweet Pippit." Though the first story, in which a child describes "Singing My Sister Down," as she sinks with agonizing slowness into a tar pit as punishment for killing her husband, is compelling enough to threaten to overshadow the rest, there are no weak entries here and memorable characters a-plenty. (Short stories. 12-15)

"From the stunning first story, these ten stories are mesmerizing."

"Read it because you’ll discover an amazingly talented writer and enjoy one of the best story collections of the year."

"An intense and meaningful collection that lovers of strange worlds and people will enjoy."

"Nothing short of brilliant."