Literarisch

This is a story about the power of the universe, but most importantly, the power of belief in oneself.Elise is sixteen years old and has the world at her feet. She writes to the universe regularly, asking for signs and guidance. As life presents her with challenges, lessons and heartbreaks, she continues to write and reflect on her life and the choices she has made. What would forty-year-old Elise tell her sixteen-year-old self?Dear Universe is an inspirational story about the journey to self-discovery and the immense power of love. It captures the struggles of navigating life and love as a young woman with congenital heart disease and undiagnosed autism, through her voyage of reflection and contemplation as she learns to understand the powers of the universe.

Ash boards a Greyhound bus heading to the place where Bly was last seen: Snowflake, Arizona. Six thousand feet up in the wide red desert, Ash meets Mona, her dog, her goat, and her neighbors, and finds stepbrother Bly, too.In their ramshackle homes, the walls lined with tinfoil, almost all the residents of Snowflake are sick. But this isn't any ordinary sickness: the chemicals and technologies of modern life are poisoning them. They call themselves canaries, living warning signs that humans have pushed the environment too far, except no one seems to be taking their warnings seriously. The healthy "normies" of Snowflake have written them off as a bunch of eccentrics, and when Ash too falls ill, the doctor's response is "It's all in your mind."Snowflake, AZ contemplates illness and health-both our own and our planet's. As Ash lives through a cycle of illness and recovery and loss, the world beyond is succumbing to its own affliction: a breakdown of civilization only distantly perceived by Ash and the isolated residents of Snowflake, from which there may or may not be a chance for recovery. This provocative novel by one of our most admired storytellers explores the resilience of love and community in the face of crisis.

Beloved for his hilarious and unexpectedly moving novels, Bruce Coville is also a master of the short story. These two collections, in one volume for the first time, feature eighteen tales of unusual breadth and emotional depth. This omnibus is a perfect introduction to Bruce Coville's magic for the uninitiated.<BR>Includes an introduction by Jane Yolen.<BR>