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Blow

A Novella by Daniel Nayeri

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Written entirely on an iPhone, this quartet of YA novellas by Another Pan and Another Faust author Daniel Nayeri showcases four different genres.

This bold collection of novellas by Another series author Daniel Nayeri features four riveting tales. These modern riffs on classic genres will introduce young adult readers to a broad range of writing styles that explore universally compelling themes such as identity and belonging, betrayal and friendship, love and mortality.

Straw House: A Western sizzling with suspense, set in a land where a rancher grows soulless humans and a farmer grows living toys.

Wood House: This science-fiction tale plunges the reader into a future where reality and technology blend imperceptibly, and a teenage girl must race to save the world from a nano-revolution that a corporation calls "ReCreation Day."

Brick House: This detective story set in modern NYC features a squad of "wish police" and a team of unlikely detectives.

Blow: A comedic love story told by none other than Death himself, portrayed here as a handsome and charismatic hero who may steal your heart in more ways than one. With humor, suspense, and relatable prose, this hip and cutting-edge collection dazzles.

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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 5, 2011
      This collection of novellas from Nayeri (Another Pan), written entirely on an iPhone, is a mixed bag; each of the four stories represent a different genre and mood, with little to link them. The strongest is the thought-provoking “Wish Police,” starring the detectives of New York City’s Imaginary Crimes Unit. Can a djinn, a leprechaun, and a talking goldfish prevent a boy’s wish from killing his family? “Doom with a View” is a tongue-in-cheek comedy set in “Old Timey Europe,” which deals with star-crossed love, ill-timed death, and a dastardly prince. There’s a narrative resemblance to The Princess Bride, but the story tries a little too hard to be witty. “Our Lady of Villains” is a thriller set in 2062, on the eve of a corporation’s new nanotech-driven campaign. With its reliance on acronyms, “leetspeak,” IM conversations, and futuristic slang, it’s intriguing, though occasionally hard to follow. The weakest offering is “Toy Farm,” a western-themed whimsy filled with living toys; while atmospheric and moody, it’s also distant and hard to relate to. As a literary experiment, Nayeri’s project succeeds more often than not, but the results are uneven. Ages 14–up.

    • Kirkus

      September 15, 2011

      Four novellas representing four narrative styles ponder questions of humanity, technology, wishes and love.

      The stand-alone novellas riff, dizzyingly and delightfully, on influences as varied as The Wizard of Oz and westerns, Mad Max and slang-laden teen diaries, The Arabian Nights and police procedurals, "Sleeping Beauty" and the sardonic Death of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. In "Toy Farm," toys grown from the earth wonder, as they fight for their lives: What's the difference between consciousness and humanity? "Wish Police" pulls back the curtain on the secret world of wishes—their varying degrees of strength, worthiness and consequences—as a lonely, world-weary djinn sworn to protect and serve works to prevent deadly wishes from coming true. As its punny title suggests, "Doom With a View" is a sweeping love story, complete with impossibly attractive protagonists, heroic feats of derring-do and a charming narrator in Death himself. Strong and assured, these stories seamlessly merge different styles, teasing out and playing with readers' assumptions about how westerns, fantasy and fairy tales work. Less successful is the second novella, "Our Lady of Villains," a giggling teen diary set in a paranoia-inducing, technology-saturated post-apocalyptic future. The voice is too lightweight to carry the thematic load, but this lone misstep is not nearly enough to ruin the delightful effect of the collection as a whole.

      Overall, provocative and deeply satisfying. (Novellas. 14 & up)

      (COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

    • The Horn Book

      January 1, 2012
      In four novellas, each more successful than the previous one, Nayeri presents an unconventional take on various genres from the Western to science fiction to detective story and, finally, romantic comedy. Though it starts off slowly, this ambitious and intriguing project may find an audience if readers can patiently make it to the final two stories.

      (Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:5.3
  • Interest Level:9-12(UG)
  • Text Difficulty:4

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