AT MIDNIGHT

Fifteen short stories refashion tales both familiar and obscure.

In this multigenre anthology, which opens with a nod to the mutability of fairy-tale narratives, the act of transformation is as central to how each story is constructed as what is being told. Whether by magical means, through physical appearance, or otherwise, the contributors—well-known YA authors including Anna-Marie McLemore, Stacey Lee, Alex London, Malinda Lo, and more—depict the arrival of change and how it is received. In Gita Trelease’s “In the Forests of the Night,” set in colonial India, the Indian and White narrator discovers a chilling secret about a tiger hunter’s trophies. The trans protagonist of H.E. Edgmon’s “Mother’s Mirror” finds self-affirmation and love despite parental rejection. A planet’s vainglorious ruler tries to escape Death in “The Emperor and the Eversong” by Tracy Deonn. Other themes include deception, desire, and vengeance, explored in stories that range in tone from the sinister undercurrent of Melissa Albert’s original fairy tale, “The Sister Switch,” to the cheerful recounting of clever trickery in Darcie Little Badger’s “Coyote in High-Top Sneakers.” Diversity in ethnicity, gender, and sexuality is represented in the cast, which includes a teen hacker with a carefully guarded name, a hijabi known only as Red, and genderfluid merfolk. The stories draw upon perennially intriguing themes, presenting tales in genres from fantasy and historical fiction to horror in a collection sure to please a broad range of readers.

Timely and timeless.