Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

In contrast to the neighborhood settings of Tales from Outer Suburbia (2009), this collection of 25 illustrated poems and stories explores the dynamics between animals and humans amid breathtakingly imaginative scenes in skyscrapers and gutters.Evocative openings compel continued reading: "One afternoon the members of the board all turned into frogs." Exploiting the double meaning of the titular "inner," Tan's (TheSinging Bones, 2016, etc.) ideas are dressed in elegant language that creates the particular within cosmic constructs varying in length, voice, and mood. A horror story about a monster shark finally thwarted—only to keep reproducing—is less terrifying in the first-person plural. The intimate second-person transforms the reader into a toddler communing with wondrous spirit horses in a car's back seat. His consistent ability to delight the mind with fresh theater yields both provocation and restoration. When dead waterways bring about fishing in sky currents, an elusive catch leads a group of boys to experience the relationship between quick decay and fleeting value; yet, as the discovered roe are released heavenward, "here it was, the third great gift of the moonfish: an upward shower of golden sparks, a benediction of transcendental caviar, and remorse." The paintings within or concluding each tale are characterized by layers of glorious color, shadowy corners, dazzling luminosity, surreal situations, and ethereal beauty. They invite lingering, wondering: Ultimately, who will have the last word—or is there another question?Read and reread slowly, savoring every nugget. (Fiction. 12-adult)

School Library Journal Starred Review (Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

Gr 7 Up-As with most of Tan's books, this wonderfully eclectic and insightful follow-up to Tales of Outer Suburbia defies categorization. It is at once an art book, a collection of short stories, and an allegorical treatise on modern urban life, using various wild and domestic animals and their relationships with humankind as their focal point. The book opens with a spread of 25 silhouettes of various creatures highlighted within. The individual selections range from a couple of paragraphs to 10 pages or so, and each includes at least one glorious, two-page painting. The captivating stories are by turns smart, funny, tragic, wry, and often wise, if a bit trippy. Whether it's frogs in a board room, rhinos on the freeway, bears heavily lawyered-up for days in court, or orcas in the sky, these seemingly surreal scenarios allow readers to explore the behaviors of humankind and speculate about its possible future in the grand scheme of things. The 7 x 9inch hardcover trim size may limit the audience of middle schoolers, but this is a volume to hold onto, dip into, reflect on, and interact with, providing limitless writing, art, and discussion prompts. VERDICT This is a thoughtful and inviting examination of some big questions, without professing to have all the answers. A distinctive artistic achievement that will be welcome in most libraries. Luann Toth, School Library Journal

ALA Booklist (Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

Our relationships with animals have always been complicated, becoming more so as our landscape is increasingly urban. In Tan's hands, the city is a place where the wondrous and mundane lives of animals and humans collide, exposing all our flaws and potential and how deeply animals and nature affect us. Initially, these stories seem born of magic and whimsy, but they are deeply rooted in reality: a mother orca grieves for her calf after it is placed in the sky; the last rhino inconveniences drivers as it wanders onto a busy freeway; and an energetic fox paws through both your house and your dreams. While the stories are unexpected and thought-provoking, the illustrations are what really make this book shine. Painted in oil and acrylic on canvas, they are arrestingly luminous. Glowing cityscapes and empty streets create dreamlike backdrops for unexpected juxtapositions that range from serene to unsettling, conveying a sense of wonder, danger, and loss. Beautiful and strange, this collection is unique in both vision and execution.

Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

With these twenty-five works of beguiling short fiction set in other realities, Tan explores the tenuous relationship between humans and animals within urban landscapes. Most stories are three to five pages of evocative prose capped by an illustration in Tan's uniquely earthy and luminescent color palette. The connotations behind individual tales range from fairly overt to rather oblique; regardless, Tan's painterly illustrations consistently enhance each narrative.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

In contrast to the neighborhood settings of Tales from Outer Suburbia (2009), this collection of 25 illustrated poems and stories explores the dynamics between animals and humans amid breathtakingly imaginative scenes in skyscrapers and gutters.Evocative openings compel continued reading: "One afternoon the members of the board all turned into frogs." Exploiting the double meaning of the titular "inner," Tan's (TheSinging Bones, 2016, etc.) ideas are dressed in elegant language that creates the particular within cosmic constructs varying in length, voice, and mood. A horror story about a monster shark finally thwarted—only to keep reproducing—is less terrifying in the first-person plural. The intimate second-person transforms the reader into a toddler communing with wondrous spirit horses in a car's back seat. His consistent ability to delight the mind with fresh theater yields both provocation and restoration. When dead waterways bring about fishing in sky currents, an elusive catch leads a group of boys to experience the relationship between quick decay and fleeting value; yet, as the discovered roe are released heavenward, "here it was, the third great gift of the moonfish: an upward shower of golden sparks, a benediction of transcendental caviar, and remorse." The paintings within or concluding each tale are characterized by layers of glorious color, shadowy corners, dazzling luminosity, surreal situations, and ethereal beauty. They invite lingering, wondering: Ultimately, who will have the last word—or is there another question?Read and reread slowly, savoring every nugget. (Fiction. 12-adult)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Like its predecessor, Tales from Outer Suburbia, these short stories by Tan imagine a collection of alternate worlds; here, they chronicle the lives of animals who dwell cheek by jowl with humans amid urban sprawl. Tan-s skill as a writer provides sturdy scaffolding for a seemingly endless stream of startling ideas. Crocodiles live on the 87th floor of an office building. Lungfish assemble in subway stations. Massive snails make love on city streets. Bears sue humans, not just for murder and genocide, but for crimes under the bear legal code: -Spiritual Exclusion, Groaking, and Ungungunurumunre.- Sometimes, the animals face extinction; almost always-and especially in the gorgeous, haunting paintings-they display dignity and power that the book-s humans lack. In one series of images, a snowy owl superintends a hospital patient, its magnificent golden eyes gleaming impassively from the bed railing. Elsewhere, a fox hangs poised in midair above a sleeping man, ready to pounce: -Your four-digit codes and firewalls.... None of it can keep me out!- In these uneasy, strange visions, moments of beauty, and even a bleak, futurological kind of joy, abides. Ages 12-up. (Sept.)