FICTION

MindWorks: An Uncanny Compendium of Short Fiction

S. & S. Nov. 2025. 592p. pap. $19.99. ISBN 9781665939799. Gr 7 Up
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Gr 7 Up–An inventive collection of speculative fiction that includes 43 stories, ranging from laugh-out-loud funny to weird and unusual, and to utterly horrifying. Spanning science fiction, dystopian, and horror, these uncanny tales pose philosophical and ethical questions in a way unique to Shusterman. A visit to a museum in Mexico turns sinister when a girl’s young brother goes missing, resulting in some oddly petulant weather. A boy resorts to violence when a virtual reality game consumes the livelihood of his parents. A family’s “most wonderful time of the year” is threatened by one rather anthropomorphic tree. A troubled student’s fearless nature soon becomes his worst nightmare. The collection closes with two tales that return to the “Arc of a Scythe” universe. The author is a master at building unprecedented dystopian worlds that are engaging and make his books compulsively readable.
VERDICT This one is a can’t miss for fans of Shusterman.

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