Awe in a Broken World

[jesse_the_k]

Black Juice Margo Lanagan
Eos/Harper Collins 2005 USA
ISBN 0060743905

Ten exquisite short stories feature young, powerless narrators attempting life in a shattered, vaguely postapocalyptic society. Daily life is a mystery: some acquiesce, some battle, some leap into magic. Slotted as YA but don't let that stop you.

Disability angle: The characters' viewpoints are marginal and skewed and raw. The heroic saga of a troop of elephants finding a new home away from the zoo evoked my initial immersions in Deaf and blind cultures.

Bonus points: fun to read aloud -- stories are still delightful the third time through.

This is first in a series of rerun postings from a previous journal, I'm hoping to get in the habit of posting my reading so I can, at least, find the titles again.