Odds are Good: Oddly Enough/ Odder Than Ever

Favorite short story collections Oddly Enough and Odder Than Ever are now available in one volume!

Mary Jo Edwards - Children's Literature

This anthology of eighteen previously published magical tales features an alphabet of creatures from angels to werewolves. Each short story is both entertaining and meaningful. Many valuable lessons will be learned while reading Coville's short stories, i.e., self-acceptance, trustworthiness, loyalty, and selflessness. In the clever story titled "Am I Blue?" an adolescent, confused about his sexual orientation, receives a visit from his fairy godfather. One of his three wishes is to have every gay person turn blue. Later he learns that the boy who has been gay bashing him is blue. Another short story titled "Biscuits of Glory" is about a courageous boy who investigates odd noises coming from the kitchen. He finds a female ghost feverishly baking biscuits while singing a sad tune. The ghost's curse of returning to her former home to bake biscuits once a week is broken when the boy catches and eats one of her glorious floating biscuits. Odds are favorable that adolescents will take a deeper look at themselves and others after reading this thought-provoking title. 2006, Magic Carpet Books/Harcourt, Ages 12 up.

BRUCE COVILLE has written more than ninety books for young readers, and he won the California Young Readers Medal for Jennifer Murdley’s Toad and for Armageddon Summer, cowritten with Jane Yolen. He lives in Syracuse, New York.