Editors: Terri Windling
and Midori Snyder
Assistant editor: Jamie Bluth
Book Reviewers: Kathleen Chen,
Heinz Insu Fenkl,
Elizabeth Genco,
and Helen Pilinovsky
Art on this page:
Meg by James Graham
Tapping the Dream Tree by Charles Vess
Her Peacock Feathers by Kelly Louise Judd
Masquerade by Brian Froud
Illustration by John Bauer
Young Man by Botticelli
Illustration by Adrienne Ségur
Emerge by Gregory Spalenka
Elf Cap by Julia Jeffrey
Letter from the Editor's Desk
“Welcome to our Young Adult Mythic Fiction issue . .”
Going Ironside
“We thought it would be easy. Just go Ironside and come back with babies . . .”
Bittersweet
“What if the gingerbread boy wasn't a victim? What if he was a lure. . .?”
The Mountain King and His Sky Bride
“She tumbled from the sky like a falling star, trailing fiery dust behind her. . . .”
La Serenissima
“Know, Uliva Tradonico, that alone between the copper canals, your Father's Fool loved you. . . .”
Cassie Says
“Hel's way of seeing isn't exactly like mine. He relies more on outside symbols, on the weather, on feelings. I traffic in sudden, detailed visions. . . .”
The Guardian of the Egg
“When the tree started growing out of her head, it was springtime. . . .”
Cooling
“Nobody, but nobody, keeps me from my fire. They can only postpone it for a little while. . . .”
The Princess and the Ghost
“She knows her own story from start to finish, and knows exactly what happened to make it all go wrong . . .”
Thief of Dreams
“The servant said, 'Only you will know your dream. You must seek it yourself.' . . .”
The Man Who Owned the Moon
“There once lived, in a city by the sea, an old man who owned the moon and kept it in little glass jar. . . .”
Jack Straw
“He looked like a scarecrow, old corn stalks tied together and dressed like a man. . . .”
The Shape of Things
“Ever since we met, we've played this game. It's called The Shape of Things, and what you do is try to see the shapes hidden inside . . .”
Red Rock
“We'll go to Red Rock, Pippa, he said. Listen. I got a plan. . . .”
A Million Little Mermaids
“Despite the Disney movie's initial 'girl power' image, the message underneath is anything but feminist . . .”
The Orphaned Hero
“Frodo, Harry Potter, Lirael, White Jenna: they all spring from the mythic archetype of the Orphaned Hero . . .”
Geraldine McCaughrean's
The White Darkness
“Plucky teenagers are practically required in YA novels but crushes on dead legendary explorers. . .?”
Mythic Fiction for Young Adults
“The strength of mythic fiction lies in the metaphorical foundations of the story. . .”
Spells of Enchantment
“Once upon a time. These words are an incantation, the beginning of a spell of enchantment. . .”
A Few Things About Ants
“She unscrewed the cap, tilted the tube, and out onto the marble top of the coffee table in the living room spilled about 99 dead ants and one that was barely alive. . . .”