Starred Review After teaching the graphic format a thing or two about its own potential for elegance with The Arrival (2007), Tan follows up with this array of 15 extraordinary illustrated tales. But here is an achievement in diametric opposition to his silent masterpiece, as Tan combines spare words and weirdly dazzling images styles ranging from painting to doodles to collage create a unity that holds complexities of emotion seldom found in even the most mature works. The story of a water buffalo who sits in a vacant lot mysteriously pointing children "in the right direction" is whimsical but also ominous. The centerpiece, "Grandpa's Story," recalling a ceremonial marriage journey and the unnameable perils faced therein, captures a tone of aching melancholy and longing, but also, ultimately, a sense of deep, deep happiness. And the eerie "Stick Figures" is both a poignant and rather disturbing narrative that plays out in the washed-out daylight of suburban streets where curious, tortured creatures wait at the ends of pathways and behind bus stops. The thoughtful and engaged reader will take from these stories an experience as deep and profound as with anything he or she has ever read.

The term “suburbia” may conjure visions of vast and generic sameness, but in his hypnotic collection of 15 short stories and meditations, Tan does for the sprawling landscape what he did for the metropolis in <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">The Arrival.Here, the emotional can be manifest physically (in “No Other Country,” a down-on-its-luck family finds literal refuge in a magic “inner courtyard” in their attic) and the familiar is twisted unsettlingly (a reindeer appears annually in “The Nameless Holiday” to take away objects “so loved that their loss will be felt like the snapping of a cord to the heart”). Tan's mixed-media art draws readers into the strange settings, à la <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. In “Alert but Not Armed,” a double-page spread heightens the ludicrousness of a nation in which every house has a government missile in the yard; they tower over the neighborhood, painted in cheery pastels and used as birdhouses (“If there are families in faraway countries with their own backyard missiles, armed and pointed back at us, we would hope that they too have found a much better use for them,” the story ends). Ideas and imagery both beautiful and disturbing will linger. Ages 12–up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Feb.)

Only a fence separates Mary's village from the Unconsecrated--zombielike creatures that must be kept at bay in order for her primitive post-apocalyptic community, governed by a religious sisterhood, to survive. This inventive horror story combines mystery, romance, and suspense as it records Mary's quest to search beyond the barrier for alternatives to the life she has always known.

Nameless, ageless, genderless first-person narrators bring readers into offbeat yet recognizable places in this sparkling, mind-bending collection from the creator of The Arrival (2007). In "Our Expedition," siblings set out to see if anything exists beyond the end of their father's road map. Dysfunctional parents and the child they ignore are brought together when a dugong appears in their front lawn in "Undertow." With these and other short stories, Tan brings magic to places where magic rarely happens in books. These are fairy tales for modern times, in which there is valor, love and wisdom—without dragons and castles. The accompanying illustrations vary widely in style, medium and palette, reflecting both the events and the mood of each story, while hewing to a unifying sense of the surreal. In some stories, Tan has replaced the sparse, atmospheric text entirely with pictures, leaving the reader to absorb the stunning visual impact of his imagined universe. Several poems—and a short story—told via collage are included. Graphic-novel and text enthusiasts alike will be drawn to this breathtaking combination of words and images. (Graphic anthology. 12 & up)

Gr 4 Up-For those who loved Tan's surreal and evocative The Arrival (Scholastic, 2007), the Australian author follows up with a brilliant collection of illustrated vignettes. Fifteen short texts, each accompanied by Tan's signature black-and-white and full-color artwork, take the mundane world and transform it into a place of magical wonders. In the opening tale, a water buffalo sits in an abandoned suburban lot, offering silent but wise direction to those youngsters who are patient enough to follow his guidance. In "Eric," the title character (a tiny, leaflike creature) visits a family as a foreign exchange student and fascinates them with his sense of wonder. His parting gift to the family is sure to warm even the coldest heart. Other stories describe the fate of unread poetry, the presence of silent stick figures who roam the suburbs, or an expedition to the edge of a map. In spirit, these stories are something akin to the wit and wisdom of Shel Silverstein. The surrealist art of Rene Magritte also comes to mind, but perhaps Chris Van Allsburg's beloved The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (Houghton, 1984) comes closest as a comparable work. While somewhat hard to place due to the unusual nature of the piece, this book is a small treasure, or, rather, a collection of treasures. Douglas P. Davey, Halton Hills Public Library, Ontario, Canada

Following his wildly successful, highly acclaimed The Arrival (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic, 2007/VOYA August 2007), Tan now offers readers fifteen short stories brilliantly composed of both words and mixed-media artwork. By turns cute and creepy, chilling and profound, these thought-provoking vignettes challenge readers to use both imagination and experiential reality to find their own meaning in these fascinating stories. Employing collage, paintings, drawings, and other art forms, Tan surrounds the words of his stories with intriguing visuals. Tales like Eric, about an otherworldly exchange student, and Stick Figures, about odd beings in a neighborhood, may be considered modern fairy tales. The Amnesia Machine and Undertow could be seen as cautionary tales about modern society while Alert But Not Alarmed is a delightful satirical riff on missile proliferation. Even the stories that at first seem fanciful, such as The Water Buffalo, also convey dark undertones either via illustration or tone. How very "outer" Tan's suburbia truly is might be reflected in the picture of the Tuesday Afternoon Reading Group, comprising a human female pictured with decidedly alien beings and their books. Wonderfully imaginative and delightfully strange, Tan's suburban mythology is sure to appeal to science fiction and fantasy fans grades seven and up. Reluctant readers might also be attracted to this book because of the interesting blend of pictures and prose. Readable as both entertainment and social commentary, this book should enjoy wide-ranging appeal as could also find a place in the school curriculum.ùRachelle Bilz.