Puss Reboots: Blog: November 2013: In the Night Garden

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Another Brother by Matthew Cordell
Bad Houses by Sara Ryan
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Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White by Lila Quintero Weaver
Dark Tort by Diane Mott Davidson
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Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon
The Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley
Fire by Kristin Cashore
The Flying Beaver Brothers and the Evil Penguin Plan by Maxwell Eaton
Heartless by Gail Carriger
In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente
Know the Parts of a Book by Janet Piehl
Lily Renee, Escape Artist by Trina Robbins
The Medusa Plot by Gordon Korman
Mr. Puzzle Super Collection! by Chris Eliopoulos
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Sacred Clowns by Tony Hillerman
The Shadow King by Jo Marchant
Tankborn by Karen Sandler
Time to Sleep, Sheep the Sheep! by Mo Willems
Unraveling Freedom by Ann Bausum
The Very Big Carrot by Satoe Tone
Watch Me Throw the Ball by Mo Willems

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In the Night Garden: 11/21/13

I come to Catherynne M. Valente's adult fiction by way of her YA Fairyland series. In the Night Garden is the first half of pair of short story collections, also known as The Orphan Tales.

However I describe these stories, I won't be able to do them justice. Structurally they are like The Arabian Nights, blended with Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. There are stories within stories, most of which are told to multiple layers of audiences.

In all of this poetic text, there is the same complex but whimsical world building I fell in love with in her Fairyland books.

Four stars