Hostilities

MacDonald, Caroline

ISBN 10: 0590460633 ISBN 13: 9780590460637

Publisher: Scholastic, 1994

Synopsis

Nine chilling short stories capture a nightmare world in which dreams become a terrifying reality, ghostly warnings forecast an ominous present, and the macabre comes to a horrifying life.

About this title

Reviews

Grade 7 Up-The intent of this collection from Down Under is to highlight the everyday happenings that often escape notice and put a different spin on them. Two of the best stories ("I Say My Name in a Book" and "The Message in the Dust") are futuristic, and they present some interesting questions for discussion. They are also the only two to have been previously published. "The Message in the Dust" tells of a space-exploring junior archaeologist who connects over space and time with a Mayan girl. The result is an interesting connection between strange spaceships and her culture. It is thought-provoking and plays nicely on all those unanswered questions about the amazing achievements of that ancient civilization. The rest of the stories don't have the same punch, but they are well written. The voices are clear and solid, though in terms of plot, these selections don't really go anywhere. Buy where the demand for short stories is great.
Patricia A. Dollisch, DeKalb County Public Library, Decatur, GA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Macdonald ( The Lake at the End of the World ) uses her native New Zealand and current homeland of Australia as the backdrops for nine Twilight Zone -ish stories that range from spooky to only slightly offbeat. Young heroes and heroines--usually placed in remote locations (campsites, farm houses, etc.)--find themselves on the edge of danger as their notions of reality are challenged. While some of the selections include traditional horrors in the form of seances, soul-switchings and skeletons, other, more subtle stories explore how perceptions are colored by deep emotions. The title story, for example, examines the way a girl's growing resentment of her new half-brother affects her reasoning. "At the Old Roxy" traces an adolescent shoplifter's quest for beauty in her crumbling, chaotic world. This book may not leave readers quaking in their boots, but it does offer a number of promising situations and a smattering of surprising conclusions. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A delicately macabre ambience infuses these tales from the Australian author of Speaking To Miranda (1992): a fugitive finds the story of her own life in an old book; a boy visiting his aunt's dying farm is haunted by dreams centering around ``The Dam'' and its fetid lake; ``The Thief in the Rocks'' and another malevolent spirit infecting ``The Greenhouse'' behave with chilling malice. The theme of anger also pervades tales of an abused shoplifter who finds someone to cling to ``At the Old Roxy,'' a bed-wetter who finally stops believing his father's ``Lies,'' and the title story, about two warring step-siblings, one of whom gleefully rescues the other from being buried in cement. Hostile indeed, and bizarre, though milder than Paul Jennings' Uncanny! and Unreal! (both 1991). (Fiction/Short stories. 11-13) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 7-10. Students expecting splatter-punk gore and slashing won't find it in these carefully crafted stories. However, they will find nine unsettling, strange, satisfyingly creepy tales--the kind you don't want to read when you're in the house alone and it's time for bed; the kind you continue to think about hours later. In the title story, a stepsister finds a novel way to get revenge on her stepbrother; in "The Dam," a boy discovers he is living with a murderous aunt; and in "The Thief in the Rocks," a girl's very life is stolen. The Australian slang may occasionally puzzle North American readers, but it won't prevent them from enjoying this eerie collection. Chris Sherman

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0590460633
• ISBN 13: 9780590460637
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 131