Waifs and Strays

Wonderfully enjoyable entertainment, and extremely well-written, this book's short stories delve into a world each of their own. Magic, deception, and good versus evil all collide to form a well blended book of short stories. Each story has its own individuality and strength, with its own set of unique characters. Two sample stories: ---- The first story is called Merlin Dreams in the Mondream Wood. It is about a girl who, when she has terrible nightmares, goes into her uncle's garden (whom she lives with) and upon dropping off to sleep on the garden's bench under a large tree, encounters a tree boy. He makes the dreams go away. Soon after the dreams ended, she stopped going to the garden at night. And so, years later when she is looking out of her bedroom window, sees the tree, and decides that night to go and search for the tree boy. A story of trust of memories. ---- The second story is about two sisters. Appoline and Cassandra. This story is written in chapters, alternating with each sisters point of view. Appoline is tweleve, and has a congentital birth defect. One leg is shorter then the other. She doesn't care so much about that, she really wants to find out what her sister is hiding from her. Her sister, Cassandra is sixteen or seventeen, and has...a secret. She is a vampire. And plans to turn her sister, whom she has watched suffer too long, on HER sixteenth birthday. Also a story of trust and magic. Great book. Hope this review helped you learn more about the book. Enjoy!

Waifs and Strays is an excellent book. Through reading this brilliant short story collection, I have come to think of Charles De Lint as one of my favorite authors. His short stories are among the most creative I have ever come across, and believe his works on urban fantasy and modern faerie tales to be absolute in their beauty, and unique portrayal of everyday ambitions,fears, and desires. I recommend this book to teenagers, and those adults still young at heart, who love an engaging and mystical tale, that will share with them the stories of some of the most fantastically portrayed characters of young adult literature.

I love fantasy, and I was expecting the usual. This is not the usual! I don't really like reading short stories, either, but these read like they really happened, and were reported yesterday in the newspapers. Quite different, really! Some of the stories I yearned to be full-blown novels, especially "Merlin Dreams in the Mondream Wood". When's the last time someone brought Merlin back to you? I miss him! Some, like "The Graceless Child", were haunting and eerie. The vampire sisters in "Sisters" was thought provoking! Altogether, and interesting read.

I particilarly like de Lint's Newford stories and novels but this very special collection of stories with varied settings is an excellent choice for adolescents, their teachers, libraries and schools. This wonderful short story anthology is de Lint's short fiction with teen protagonists. There's two Maisie Flood stories that take place in Newford; she's just off the street herself, but lives with an adult developmentally disabled man Tommy and a great number of castoff dogs ("Waifs and Strays" and "But for the Grace Go I"). "Stick" takes place in Bordertown. The eponymous martial arts expert defends a halfling from some Bloods, the band Horn Dance to defend him in turn, with music. "There's No Such Thing" and "Sisters" are charming, funny and a little sad teenage vampire stories set around Ottawa.