The Lion Tamer's Daughter and Other Stories (Laurel-Leaf Books) - Softcover

Dickinson, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440226902 ISBN 13: 9780440226901

Publisher: Laurel Leaf, 1998

Synopsis

In four haunting stories, kindred souls reach out across time, space, and magical barriers to rescue and transform each other. In the first story, "The Spring," a boy finds a world beyond the one in which he was born. In "Touch and Go," an elderly man recalls how he and a girl from an earlier time changed and enriched each other's lives. In "Checkers," a ghostly presence holds the key to survival. And Melanie, "The Lion Tamer's Daughter," bravely ventures in to her own dark and mysterious past.

About this title

From the Publisher:

In four haunting stories, kindred souls reach out across time, space, and magical barriers to rescue and transform each other. "The Spring" asks: what would the world be like if you'd never been born? In "Touch and Go," an elderly man recalls how he and a girl from an earlier time changed and enriched each other's lives. The kidnapped boy of "Checkers" finds the key to survival in the presence of another victim, long dead--until now. In "The Lion Tamer's Daughter," Melanie discovers she has a second self, living another life.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Here is beauty with a shiver in it: four elegant, eerie stories from Dickinson (Chuck and Danielle, 1996, etc.). In ``The Spring,'' a turnabout and darkling version of It's a Wonderful Life, a boy discovers what life would be like if he had a twin, and gets a glimpse of the world had he never been born. In ``Touch and Go,'' a garrulous but engaging codger tells a tale of slipping through time and space. In ``Checkers,'' a chilling tale of kidnapping taken from today's headlines turns into an oddly reassuring ghost story. The longest tale, which gives the book its title, mixes circus tales and the doppelg„nger archetype in ways not entirely satisfying; with its appealing characters, it will still find fans among those who see its supernatural elements as contrived. Regardless, Dickinson is a stylist par excellence: His limpid prose carries these stories through strange territory. (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Laurel Leaf
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0440226902
• ISBN 13: 9780440226901
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304