Red Spikes

Starred review from October 1, 2007
Lanahan, whose Black Juice
won critical acclaim both in her native Australia and in the U.S., will further enhance her reputation with this fine second collection of 10 stories. Driven by beautiful, often quirky language and deep psychological insight, these works demonstrate a powerful sense of the marvelous. In “Baby Jane,” a boy on holiday hears a magical servant shout, “My queen is in difficulties. Is there a midwife here?... Any kind of leech, any wise woman,” and finds himself in charge of delivering a royal child; a different sort of child, an emotionally needy girl who fears she will “die of her distress” after being separated from her mother for a night, must show some gumption and outwit the terrifying, baby-eating ogre Wee Willie Winkie in “Winkie.” Other memorable characters include the dead souls in Limbo, who in “Under Hell, Over Heaven” earn brownie points by transporting the recently deceased to their final reward or punishment; and the eponymous “Daughter of the Clay,” an unhappy changeling who travels to fairyland and decides in the end that it's best for her “to stay silent, on my bottom among the Clay, and fill my mouth with fish.” Gritty, dark and sometimes very nasty, these stories are, at their best, worthy of comparison to the fairy tales of Angela Carter. Ages 14-up.

October 1, 2007
Gr 9 Up-Continuing in the style of "Black Juice" (HarperCollins, 2005), Lanagan presents 10 more tales of life, death, love, and the supernatural. Familiar places and concepts are turned upside down and inside out, and spun into something new and intriguing. "Winkie" takes a child's nursery rhyme and uncovers a dark, nightmarish core. In "A Feather in the Breast of God," the spirit of a pet bird returns to aid a family member in distress. The Catholic concept of Limbo provides the background for an examination of souls doomed to wander "Under Hell, Over Heaven." In a few brief pages, Lanagan manages to delineate her characters clearly, placing them in situations that test the limits of their courage and the depths of their humanity. The writing is haunting, evocative, and thought-provoking, though as with most short-story collections, some selections give greater satisfaction than others. Libraries with a high demand for tales of the fantastic will be particularly interested in this book."Christi Voth, Parker Library, CO"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 1, 2007
With Lanagan having published two acclaimed short story collections in close succession (Black Juice was selectedselected as a Printz Honor Book in 2006), it wouldnt besurprising if the Australian fantasists third outingalso comprisingshort storiesshowed signs of exhausted reserves. Far from it, this razor-sharp assemblage thrusts readers just as exhilaratingly into alien, hermetic environments and uncompromisingly idiomatic points of view. Fans will anticipate some disconcerting, even horrific stuff. In one story, female monkeys in a haremlikegroup endure the rivalries of alpha males; in another, characters in purgatory witness a souls descent intoa howling, Hieronymous Boschlike hell. While the stories always startle, they also often murmur about humanitys higher inclinations, including honor, compassion, and different kinds of love. Along with the patience required to acclimate to each storys fresh setup, the sophisticated slant of the collection makesthe bookmost appropriate for the broadest, most mature readersthe monkey drama, for instance, includesupsetting scenes of animal-world rape, andseveral stories deal with childbirth and motherhood in a way rarely seen in books forteen readers. Such indifference to usual genre boundaries will only increase the admiration of Lanagansfans and may serve to broaden her audience into the adult literary world. Young writers willrelish the insights into each storys genesis provided in the closing notes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)