Overview

Specially commissioned short stories, by prize-winning authors, on the theme of Mirrors. READERSHIP: 10 – 14 A collection of new , specially commissioned short stories by some of the finest authors of children’s books today: Anne Fine, Berlie Doherty, Leslie Howarth, Mary Arrigan, Gaye Hicilmaz, Jeremy Strong, Malorie Blackman, Elizabeth Laird , Melvin Burgess, Celia Rees, Kate Thompson, Paul Stewart, Vivian French, Alan Durant, Annie Dalton in range of genres – humour, horror, fantasy, traditional, realism and romance. The collection is aimed at good readers between 10 and 14, and the strength of the stories combined with the excellence of their authors will be certainly be welcomed by teachers, librarians and parents. Edited by Wendy Cooling, a well-known and highly respected figure in the world of education and children’s books and the editor of Centuries of Stories.

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9780007105892

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Reviews

This is a collection of 15 specially commissioned short stories by some of Britain's best-known authors of children's books, including Malorie Blackman, Melvin Burgess, Berlie Doherty, Anne Fine, Lesley Howarth and Jeremy Strong. These authors have written for children of all ages, but the stories in this collection are aimed at younger teenagers. The stories all share the central image of the anthology, that of the mirror, but are very different in form and tone, covering humour and horror, fantasy and fairytale, realism and romance. If there can said to be a common thread running through, it is that many of the confrontations with mirrors and reflections contain an element of darkness to them. This tone is set in the first story by Elizabeth Laird, which is a retelling of the sorry fate of Narcissus and Echo, and continues, for instance, in the very modern 'mirrors dot com' by Lesley Howarth, in which buying a mirror on the internet has some unearthly results. Being haunted by the past through a mirror ties together the tales of Malorie Blackman, Vivian French and Alan Durant, which range from the melancholy reflections of a middle-aged film actress through a humorous fight with a pirate ancestor to a terrifying ghostly revenge tale. Most striking of all are 'Whose Face Do You See?' by Melvin Burgess and 'Double Vision' by Paul Stewart, the latter a disturbing story with an unexpected ending and the former the dramatic tale of a young girl in a coma. All in all, this is a fine collection of short stories which will be thoroughly enjoyed by the young readers it is aimed at. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Wendy Cooling was an English teacher for many years before moving to become Head of the Children’s Book Foundation [now Young Book Trust]. She was the inspiration behind Book Start – a government backed national scheme to introduce babies to books – and has been a major spokesperson for children’s books in the last ten years. Apart from children’s book and reading, Wendy’s other major passion is travel and it would be difficult to find anywhere in the world that she hasn’t been!

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