The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for Teens: First Annual Collection

I bought this book for my just-turned 13 year old son. I always favor books with many stories so that, if one author or story doesn't appeal to you, others in the same book may. This was the case with my son, who liked most of the stories but disliked a few. Overall, this was a great purchase in that it gave my son a good flavor for the genre. Recommended.

This could probably be more correct title The Year's Best Fantasy and Science Fiction, given the preponderance of the former, and dragons and spear-carrying warriors on the cover. Not a big shock given Yolen as an editor, I suppose. She has gone with what she likes or what is currently more popular. Couple of alternate-history sfish stories, and a couple of others, including the excellent Seargeant Chip novella, which makes up in length for SF what was lacking in numbers, at least. A pretty reasonable quality anthology, given the obvious limitations on selection of stories compared to a standard Year's Best to make it American standard kid-safe or friendly to some degree or other. They don't actually definite what they mean by teen, but it would seem to mean thirteen as opposed to seventeen I would think. Year's Best SFF for Teens : The Faery Handbag - Kelly Link Year's Best SFF for Teens : Blood Wolf - S. M. Stirling Year's Best SFF for Teens : Sleeping Dragons - Lynette Aspey Year's Best SFF for Teens : Endings - Garth Nix Year's Best SFF for Teens : Dancer in the Dark - David Gerrold Year's Best SFF for Teens : A Piece of Flesh - Adam Stemple Year's Best SFF for Teens : CATNYP - Delia Sherman Year's Best SFF for Teens : They - Rudyard Kipling Year's Best SFF for Teens : The Wings of Meister Wilhelm - Theodora Goss, Year's Best SFF for Teens : Displaced Persons - Leah Bobet Year's Best SFF for Teens : Sergeant Chip - Bradley Denton Accessory home hunt. 4 out of 5 Sea leg strategy. 3 out of 5 Superpowered alien egg boy happy at home. 4 out of 5 Same names again. 3 out of 5 Line of fairy defense. 3.5 out of 5 Burning for a change. 3.5 out of 5 Changer library danger. 3 out of 5 Shadow Kids. 3.5 out of 5 Glider escape. 3 out of 5 Oz monkey amputation breeding brooding. 4 out of 5 Dog's days of war PR betrayal promotion. 4.5 out of 5 (call this 3.75) 3.5 out of 5

I bought this book for my 13 yr. old granddaughter. She was delighted. She told me it was absolutely the best science fiction book she had ever read. So what do I buy her next??(a rhetorical question)

Ten of these eleven enjoyable stories targeting young adults (but older readers will appreciate them too) were initially published in varying publications in 2004; one story "They" by Rudyard Kipling is a century old (interesting to historiographic compare to the modern writers). The stories are mostly fantasy and even the few science fiction contributions like "Sergeant Chip" have a fantasy like feel to them. The authors are a who's who of the genres with each providing a strong effort. Settings vary from Grandma's handbag (think Men in Black II) to the New York Forty-Second Street Public Library to a K-9 point of view on war. Some, as is typical of fantasy, use horror elements to enhance the plot. Each tale is well written and the editors provide the titles of other similar stories that teens would most likely enjoy. An honorable mention list adds to the experience of fostering reading amongst young adults. This is a terrific collection for young and old readers. Harriet Klausner