CHECK OUT THE LIBRARY WEENIES

Beware, the weenies return with 30 new tales to warp your mind and chill your spine.

Lubar returns with the ninth collection in 15 years of short and sometimes shivery stories. There are sci-fi stories, horror stories, fantasy stories, and revenge stories. In a medieval village, one tale’s narrator wants a wizard to turn all of the silver in a house into gold. It’s not the narrator’s house; what possible reason could he have…it’s a monstrous reason. Pamela must stay with her great-aunt while her mother’s on a business trip. Great Aunt Hester collects dolls’ heads. Can Pamela stand to sleep in a room lined with staring bodiless dolls? In the title story, the collection’s longest, a group of bullied book lovers are locked out of their library hangout due to mold. When they create a golem to protect themselves, it turns on them. Help arrives from an unexpected quarter. A few are less engaging than others, but they’re short; just turn the page. Fans will be happy at the variety in these tales, and story notes at the close will be fun to investigate for budding authors. Also at the close: a reading and activity guide for grades four through seven that lists the common core standards it supports. Diversity is achieved largely through naming convention.

Lots to like but not for the faint of heart.