Young Warriors: Stories of Strength

This is a really good book. All the short stories in here are unique, with different voice. They are all written by amazing authors. Some stories are humorous, some are suspenceful, some are a combination, but all of them are worth reading. Some stories give background knowledge on favorite characters, like the Shang Unicorn or Helen of Sparta.

Many of you Tamora Pierce fans or people that have already read this book or even if you haven't even heard of this book are wondering 'Why only 4 stars?' Many,many of these stories are wonderful and exciting. I enjoyed Heartless, Student of the Ostriges and especially Thunderbolt. But in some points to the book I found myself thinking of stupid reasons to stop reading and do something more...exciting. I'm not saying that this isn't a wonderful book because it is and the authors like Tamora Pierce and Esther Friesner were especially good. But the stories like 'The Gift of Rain Mountain' and 'The magestone' were unappealing. But by all means try this book because there are some wonderful stories in here! -Hannah M. A.K.A Book Worm

These stories are very good in different ways. The thing the reader needs to keep in mind is that the stories aren't supposed to flow or fit together-that's the whole point of the book. So yes, if you try to read them in a row it will seem weird, since every story has a different feel to it. I loved some of the stories, particularly "Eli and the Dybbuk" and Pierce's "Student of Ostriches". I can't guarentee anyone liking it, but if you like that genre and keep an open mind you should like some of the stories, at least. I love it!

This one is more of a 3 1/2 for me, but I rounded it up to 4 because I'm just too picky when it comes to the excitement of a story. This book is basically a collection of stories about warriors in some way, shape, or form. Some stories stand out as thoroughly captivating in some way or another--i.e., the dark 'Heartless', the action-packed intrigue story 'Devil Wind', and the funny 'The Boy Who Cried "Dragon!"' Others were boring or with a not-so-great plot--i.e., 'Serpent's Rock' and 'Lioness'( I enjoyed this book for the first couple stories, and then after a while I started realizing that this book was getting mediocre fast. I barely read the last two stories--whether that was a mistake, I don't know, but sincerely doubt. 'Young Warriors' is for fantasy lovers who have long zipped through Tamora's new book, 'The Will of the Empress', as well as all the other new fantasy reads, and are in desperate need of a good book of magic and strength. However, I would recommend getting this one at the library, depending on how high your endurance level is and how much you love fantasy.

Since I like to write and read in multi-genres, I particularly enjoyed this collection of short stories. The fact that they were all inspirng--emphasizing the strength and courage of our youth--added to my pleasure. I think this book will appeal to kids of all ages. YES, that includes us "oldies but goodies" too.