Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Synopsis
This first collection by award-winning author Kelly Link takes fairy tales and cautionary tales, dictators and extraterrestrials, amnesiacs and honeymooners, revenants and readers alike, on a voyage into new, strange, and wonderful territory. The girl detective must go to the underworld to solve the case of the tap-dancing bank robbers. A librarian falls in love with a girl whose father collects artificial noses. A dead man posts letters home to his estranged wife. Two women named Louise begin a series of consecutive love affairs with a string of cellists. A newly married couple become participants in an apocalyptic beauty pageant. Sexy blond aliens invade New York City. A young girl learns how to make herself disappear. These eleven extraordinary stories are quirky, spooky, and smart. They all have happy endings. Every story contains a secret prize. Each story was written especially for you. Stories from Stranger Things Happen have won the Nebula, Tiptree, and World Fantasy Award. Stranger Things Happen was a Salon Book of the Year, one of the Village Voice's 25 Favorite Books of 2001, and was nominated for the Firecracker Alternative Book Award. Contents: - Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose (1998) - Water Off a Black Dog's Back (1995) - The Specialist's Hat (1998) - Flying Lessons (1995) - Travels with the Snow Queen (1996/1997) - Vanishing Act (1996) - Survivor's Ball, or, The Donner Party (1998) - Shoe and Marriage (2000) - Most of My Friends Are Two-Thirds Water (2001) - Louise's Ghost (2001) - The Girl Detective (1999)
Is Stranger Things Happen appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 16 and up.
This literary fantasy collection contains quirky, surreal stories with mild unsettling elements (death, ghosts, disappearances) and mature themes, but maintains a light, whimsical tone. Content is subtle rather than graphic, suitable for older teens who appreciate experimental fiction.
What to know going in
This book has mild violence, mild sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include death, grief, and amnesia (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Teens who love weird, clever stories that blend fairy tales with modern strangeness will enjoy these quirky, puzzle-like tales that all have happy endings.