"A library book, I imagine, is a happy book." Cornelia Funke

"Everything puts me in mind of a story." Ben Franklin

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Strange Happenings by Avi

Strange Happenings: Five Tales of Transformation by Avi, 2005.


I have read many of Avi’s books and really liked most of them. Reading Strange Happenings with the child audience in mind, I enjoyed it too. Avi gives us five short stories that feature transformation. Frequently, things don’t go well for the characters, even if they get what they want. Tom is twelve years old and bored with life. When he meets a friendly talking cat, his life turns upside down and is very exciting…for a while. Simon is a selfish guy who wants what he wants and doesn’t care who pays the price for him to get it. Soon, he is the one suffering. Jeff thinks that his town baseball mascot is great and becomes obsessed with finding out who’s behind the costume. This could be a mistake. A shoemaker strikes and breaks a bargain with a cat with lemon colored eyes, only to be confronted by the devil himself. And everyone agrees that Princess Babette is simply ravishingly beautiful, but have they ever really seen her? Avi’s collection is creepy fun and would make fine, mild Halloween reading.

Other outstanding books by Avi:




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