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African Folktales
By Roger Abrahams. 1983
Nearly 100 stories from over 40 tribe-related myths of creation, tales of epic deeds, ghost stories and tales set in…
both the animal and human realms.Part of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore LibraryFrom the Trade Paperback edition.Liminal Lives: Imagining the Human at the Frontiers of Biomedicine
By Susan Merrill Squier. 2004
Embryo adoptions, stem cells capable of transforming into any cell in the human body, intra- and inter-species organ transplantation--these and…
other biomedical advances have unsettled ideas of what it means to be human, of when life begins and ends. In the first study to consider the cultural impact of the medical transformation of the entire human life span, Susan Merrill Squier argues that fiction--particularly science fiction--serves as a space where worries about ethically and socially charged scientific procedures are worked through. Indeed, she demonstrates that in many instances fiction has anticipated and paved the way for far-reaching biomedical changes. Squier uses the anthropological concept of liminality--the state of being on the threshold of change, no longer one thing yet not quite another--to explore how, from the early twentieth century forward, fiction and science together have altered not only the concept of the human being but the contours of human life. Drawing on archival materials of twentieth-century biology; little-known works of fiction and science fiction; and twentieth- and twenty-first century U. S. and U. K. government reports by the National Institutes of Health, the Parliamentary Advisory Group on the Ethics of Xenotransplantation, and the President's Council on Bioethics, she examines a number of biomedical changes as each was portrayed by scientists, social scientists, and authors of fiction and poetry. Among the scientific developments she considers are the cultured cell, the hybrid embryo, the engineered intrauterine fetus, the child treated with human growth hormone, the process of organ transplantation, and the elderly person rejuvenated by hormone replacement therapy or other artificial means. Squier shows that in the midst of new phenomena such as these, literature helps us imagine new ways of living. It allows us to reflect on the possibilities and perils of our liminal lives.Kobo and the Wishing Pictures
By Yoshie Noguchi, Dorothy W. Baruch. 1964
Kobo is a small Japanese boy whose father paints ema, or wishing pictures, for so many customers that he finds…
no time to paint a single one for his own family-not even for Kobo, who wants one so badly to take to the shrine on Wishing Day. As the customers come and go, Kobo has a chance to observe many types of people and to consider many different kinds of wishes, none of which seems quite right for him. It is all very discouraging until, at last, he begins to get an idea, and then . . . But that is the secret of the story.In meeting Kobo and the many other interesting people in this book, the young reader is introduced to a number of the charming manners and customs of rural Japan, as well as to a number of situations that parallel those experienced by children almost everywhere. As the author expresses it in her introduction: "In this book there are many pictures of ema. We hope that the wishes shown with them, along with the story of Kobo and his family, will bridge customs and culture through our children's seeing that the children of Japan have the same human feeling of affection, of rivalry, of sadness and joy."Octavia's Brood
By Walidah Imarisha, Adrienne Maree Brown. 2016
Whenever we envision a world without war, without prisons, without capitalism, we are producing speculative fiction. Organizers and activists envision,…
and try to create, such worlds all the time. Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown have brought twenty of them together in the first anthology of short stories to explore the connections between radical speculative fiction and movements for social change. The visionary tales of Octavia’s Brood span genres-sci-fi, fantasy, horror, magical realism-but all are united by an attempt to inject a healthy dose of imagination and innovation into our political practice and to try on new ways of understanding ourselves, the world around us, and all the selves and worlds that could be. The collection is rounded off with essays by Tananarive Due and Mumia Abu-Jamal, and a preface by Sheree Renée Thomas.The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales
By Virginia Hamilton. 1985
24 folktales briefly and dramatically told lend themselves to be read aloud or acted out around campfires, on stormy nights,…
or to be discussed for readers of all ages. Their heroes prevail through cleverness, perseverance, quick thinking and, often, magic. The stories come from far and wide where enslavement of Africans was practiced from Portugal, to the United States, to the Cape Verde Islands. After each story, Virginia Hamilton, the Newberry Award winning author, provides concise information about its source, history, symbols, storytelling elements and interpretation. Find out how the lion who goes about scaring the other animals by roaring, "Me and myself!" is silenced, how Little Daughter evades a stalking wolf with her goodest, sweetest, song, and how a man whose horse and grandmother is killed by a bully, avoids being killed himself, becomes wealthy, and brings the brute to justice. In one story a young man uses his three obedient rabbits to outwit a princess, queen, and king, catching them in a sackful of lies. Another story warns that should you ever cut off a creature's big , long tail and eat it, it will come for you in the night calling for you to give it's, "tailypo," back. It will creep up your wall, through your window, across your floor, on to your bed and you'll be too scared to move, too scared to scream...Winner of the Coretta Scott King MedalDragon Bike: Fantastical Stories of Bicycling, Feminism, & Dragons
By Unknown. 2020
From the great, winged, fire-breathing lizards of the west to the wise, flying serpents of the east, dragons play a powerful…
role in our myths and imaginations. In these fourteen stories and one comic, bicyclists encounter a diversity of dragons, whether foes or friends, hoarders or helpers, powerful symbols or terrifying and very real beasts. Instead of stereotypical tales of heroes saving helpless princesses from cruel beasts, these stories are populated by empowered people facing complicated dilemmas and fantastical quests.Courting the Wild Twin
By Martin Shaw. 2020
Master mythologist Martin Shaw uses timeless story-wisdom to examine our broken relationship with the world There is an old legend…
that says we each have a wild, curious twin that was thrown out the window the night we were born, taking much of our vitality with them. If there was something we were meant to do with our few, brief years on Earth, we can be sure that the wild twin is holding the key. In Courting the Wild Twin, Dr. Martin Shaw invites us to seek out our wild twin––a metaphor for the part of ourselves that we generally shun or ignore to conform to societal norms––to invite them back into our consciousness, for they have something important to tell us. He challenges us to examine our broken relationship with the world, to think boldly, wildly, and in new ways about ourselves—as individuals and as a collective. Through the use of scholarship, storytelling, and personal reflection, Shaw unpacks two ancient European fairy tales that concern the mysterious wild twin. By reading these tales and becoming storytellers ourselves, he suggests we can restore our agency and confront modern challenges with purpose, courage, and creativity. Courting the Wild Twin is a declaration of literary activism and an antidote to the shallow thinking that typifies our age. Shaw asks us to recognize mythology as a secret weapon—a radical, beautiful, heart-shuddering agent of deep, lasting change.Take a ride with us as we explore a future where trans and nonbinary people are the heroes. In worlds…
where bicycle rides bring luck, a minotaur needs a bicycle, and werewolves stalk the post-apocalyptic landscape, nobody has time to question gender. Whatever your identity you'll enjoy these stories that are both thought-provoking and fun adventures. Find out what the future could look like if we stopped putting people into boxes and instead empowered each other to reach for the stars. Featuring brand-new stories from Hugo, Nebula, and Lambda Literary Award-winning author Charlie Jane Anders, Ava Kelly, Juliet Kemp, Rafi Kleiman, Tucker Lieberman, Nathan Alling Long, Ether Nepenthes, and Nebula-nominated M. Darusha Wehm. Also featuring debut stories from Lane Fox and Marcus Woodman.Fierce Fairytales: & Other Stories to Stir Your Soul
By Nikita Gill. 2018
For readers who enjoyed Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls, this empowering collection of stories, poems and beautiful hand-drawn illustrations gives…
Once Upon a Time a much-needed modern makeover. Gone are the gender stereotypes of obliging lovers, violent men and girls that need rescuing. Instead, lines blur between heroes and villains and you'll meet brave princesses, a new kind of wolf lurking in the concrete jungle and a courageous Gretel who can bring down monsters on her own.Only Ever Yours
By Louise O'Neill. 2014
'Utterly magnificent . . . gripping, accomplished and dark' Marian KeyesWINNER: Newcomer of the Year at the IBAs WINNER: Bookseller…
YA Prize WINNER: CBI Eilis Dillon Award Buzzfeed's Best Books Written by Women in 2014The bestselling novel about beauty, body image and betrayaleves are designed, not made. The School trains them to be prettyThe School trains them to be good.The School trains them to Always be Willing.All their lives, the eves have been waiting. Now, they are ready for the outside world.companion . . . concubine . . . or chastityOnly the best will be chosen.And only the Men decide.African Folktales (The Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library)
By Roger Abrahams. 1983
Nearly 100 stories from over 40 tribe-related myths of creation, tales of epic deeds, ghost stories and tales set in…
both the animal and human realms.Part of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore LibraryFrom the Trade Paperback edition.The Natural Way of Things: 'The Handmaid's Tale for our age' (Economist)
By Charlotte Wood. 2015
'Savage: think Atwood in the outback' Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train'An unforgettable reading experience' Liane Moriarty,…
author of Big Little Lies'Ferocious... recalls the early Elena Ferrante' NPR'A masterpiece' Guardian'Devastating' EconomistShe hears her own thick voice deep inside her ears when she says, 'I need to know where I am.'The man stands there, tall and narrow, hand still on the doorknob, surprised.He says, almost in sympathy, 'Oh, sweetie. You need to know what you are.'"Two women awaken from a drugged sleep to find themselves imprisoned in a brokendownproperty in the middle of a desert.Strangers to each other, they have no idea where they are or how they came to be therewith eight other girls, their heads shaved, guarded by two inept yet vicious jailers.Doing hard labour under a sweltering sun, the prisoners soon learn what links them: ineach girl's past is a sexual scandal with a powerful man.They pray for rescue but as the hours turn into days and the days into weeks and months,it becomes clear only the girls can rescue themselves. Winner, 2016 Stella PrizeWinner, 2016 Indie Book of the Year AwardWinner, Fiction Book of the Year, 2016 Indie Book AwardWinner, 2016 Prime Minister's Literary Award for FictionWinner, Reader's Choice, 2016 ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year Shortlisted, 2016 Miles Franklin Literary AwardShortlisted, 2016 ABA Nielsen BookData Booksellers Choice AwardLonglisted, 2017 International Dublin Literary AwardOnly Ever Yours
By Louise O'Neill. 2014
'Utterly magnificent . . . gripping, accomplished and dark' Marian KeyesWINNER: Newcomer of the Year at the IBAs WINNER: Bookseller…
YA Prize WINNER: CBI Eilis Dillon Award Buzzfeed's Best Books Written by Women in 2014The bestselling novel about beauty, body image and betrayaleves are designed, not made. The School trains them to be prettyThe School trains them to be good.The School trains them to Always be Willing.All their lives, the eves have been waiting. Now, they are ready for the outside world.companion . . . concubine . . . or chastityOnly the best will be chosen.And only the Men decide.The Sadeian Woman: An Exercise in Cultural History (Virago Modern Classics #79)
By Angela Carter. 1979
Sexuality is power' - so says the Marquis de Sade, philosopher and pornographer extraordinaire. His virtuous Justine keeps to the…
rules laid down by men, her reward rape and humiliation; his Juliette, Justine's triumphantly monstrous antithesis, viciously exploits her sexuality. In a world where all tenderness is false, all beds are minefields.But now Sade has met his match. With invention and genius, Angela Carter takes on these outrageous figments of his extreme imagination, and transforms them into symbols of our time - the Hollywood sex goddesses, mothers and daughters, pornography, even the sacred shrines of sex and marriage lie devastatingly exposed before our eyes. Angela Carter delves into the viscera of our distorted sexuality and reveals a dazzling vision of love which admits neither of conqueror nor of conquered.The Fairy Tellers: A Journey into the Secret History of Fairy Tales
By Nicholas Jubber. 2022
'Like a child after the Pied Piper I pursued Jubber into a world both human and full of magic. A…
carnival of a book, rigorously researched and jostling with life' Amy Jeffs, author of Storyland: A New Mythology of Britain'Magical tales about magical tales and tellers. Jubber, congenially and fascinatingly, explores the land from which the great fairy stories seeped, making the stories more resonant, powerful and important than ever' Charles Foster, author of Being a Human and Being a BeastWho were the Fairy Tellers?In this far-ranging quest, award-winning author Nicholas Jubber unearths the lives of the dreamers who made our most beloved fairy tales: inventors, thieves, rebels and forgotten geniuses who gave us classic tales such as 'Cinderella', 'Hansel and Gretel', 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Baba Yaga'.From the Middle Ages to the birth of modern children's literature, they include a German apothecary's daughter, a Syrian youth running away from a career in the souk and a Russian dissident embroiled in a plot to kill the tsar.Following these and other unlikely protagonists, we travel from the steaming cities of Italy and the Levant, under the dark branches of the Black Forest, deep into the tundra of Siberia and across the snowy fells of Lapland. In the process, we discover a fresh perspective on some of our most frequently told stories. Filled with adventure, tragedy and real-world magic, this bewitching book uncovers the stranger lives behind the strangest of tales.Only Ever Yours
By Louise O'Neill. 2014
eves are designed, not made. The School trains them to be prettyThe School trains them to be good.The School trains…
them to Always be Willing.All their lives, the eves have been waiting. Now, they are ready for the outside world.companion . . . concubine . . . or chastityOnly the best will be chosen.And only the Men decide.(P)2015 WF Howes LtdFierce Fairytales: & Other Stories to Stir Your Soul
By Nikita Gill. 2018
Traditional fairytales are full of cliché and gender stereotypes. The silent Rapunzel, the beautiful sweet princesses, ugly jealous and bitter…
women, girls that need rescuing, men who take the glory and their new brides being forever grateful and subservient. Good mothers, obliging lovers and pretty objects. Nikita Gill's new prose and poetry collection rewrites the fairytale classics, and reworks their old-fashioned tropes into new empowering and inspirational stories. Meet the grief-stricken Ursula, the troubled Wendy Darling, the wolf in the concrete jungle and the courageous Gretel who can bring down monsters on her own.Read by Nikita Gill(p) Orion Publishing Group 2018Second Cousins
By Virginia Hamilton. 1998
In this spellbinding sequel to a best-selling novel, cousins Cammy Coleman and Eloise Odie are forced to face some dark…
family secrets when their second cousins visit from New York City.Tales of Neveryeon
By Samuel R. Delany. 1993
In his four-volume series Return to Neveryeon, Hugo and Nebula award-winner Samuel R. Delany appropriated the conceits of sword-and-sorcery fantasy…
to explore his characteristic themes of language, power, gender, and the nature of civilization. Wesleyan University Press has reissued the long-unavailable Neveryeonvolumes in trade paperback.The eleven stories, novellas, and novels in Return to Neveryeon's four volumes chronicle a long-ago land on civilization's brink, perhaps in Asia or Africa, or even on the Mediterranean. Taken slave in childhood, Gorgik gains his freedom, leads a slave revolt, and becomes a minister of state, finally abolishing slavery. Ironically, however, he is sexually aroused by the iron slave collars of servitude. Does this contaminate his mission -- or intensify it? Presumably elaborated from an ancient text of unknown geographical origin, the stories are sunk in translators' and commentators' introductions and appendices, forming a richly comic frame.Return to Neveryeon
By Samuel R. Delany. 1994
In his four-volume series Return to Neveryeon, Hugo and Nebula award-winner Samuel R. Delany appropriated the conceits of sword-and-sorcery fantasy…
to explore his characteristic themes of language, power, gender, and the nature of civilization. Wesleyan University Press has reissued the long-unavailable Neveryeonvolumes in trade paperback.The eleven stories, novellas, and novels in Return to Neveryeon's four volumes chronicle a long-ago land on civilization's brink, perhaps in Asia or Africa, or even on the Mediterranean. Taken slave in childhood, Gorgik gains his freedom, leads a slave revolt, and becomes a minister of state, finally abolishing slavery. Ironically, however, he is sexually aroused by the iron slave collars of servitude. Does this contaminate his mission -- or intensify it? Presumably elaborated from an ancient text of unknown geographical origin, the stories are sunk in translators' and commentators' introductions and appendices, forming a richly comic frame.