Holding Wonder [Mass Market Paperback]

Zenna Henderson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1972

Here are children who "believe"-- but what they believe and how they can realize their beliefs is only half the story....Dismey, for example, believes she's a magician. Two little boys who teased her can prove it. But the can't tell-- she's turned them into rocks! And how do you explain an amazing child who believes in attending school--but is hundreds of years old? The explanation is simple...if you believe!

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 301 pages
• Publisher: Avon Books; 7th THUS edition (1972)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380440814
• ISBN-13: 978-0380440818
• ASIN: B000BOBG3U
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,047,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Indelible Kind..., July 18, 2000

By 

Lalaith17 (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Holding Wonder: Doubleday Science Fiction (Hardcover)

...it's the name of one of the stories, but it could just as well describe all of Zenna henderson's work. The stories in Holding Wonder are of all sorts--fantasy, science fiction, religious, even one of her famous "People stories"--but they're all populated with unforgettable characters. Her style has no verbal pyrotechnics, but it's got a good-natured, almost wry humor to it even in the most serious stories. They have a friendly tone, that makes you feel that Zenna Henderson is one of your friends. I regret to say that she isn't one of mine; but this book is.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read., October 11, 2008

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Holding Wonder (Mass Market Paperback)

I don't understand at all why the bulk of Zenna Henderson's work is no longer in print. If I could choose five speculative fiction authors that I believe should be sitting on everyone's shelf, then her name would be in the top three. I discovered her work as a child, with Anything Box and quickly went on to read everything that I could find that she had written. Sadly, most of those books passed out of my hands in my young adult years, so I have been slowly finding and collecting them again as I can.

Holding Wonder is a collection of short stories. There is one story of The People (Henderson's most famous group of characters). The rest follow themes that are very typical for her work-- complex ideas of survival, acceptance and disaster worked out through the eyes of a school teacher and her charges-- allowing room for miracles: the effectiveness of prayer, for instance-- the sheer strength of people, particularly children, when faced with extreme situations. Oz fans will get a particular bonus in the story "The Believing Kind" about a little girl who figures out how to pronounce the word PYRZQXGL.

What I like so much about Henderson has something to do with her diction, and her eye for wonder in the commonplace. Her voice is quite humble, and she presents you with her work as though it were a tray of cookies. But for all her homey style, I'd stack her up against the big bombastic early scifi/fantasy writers any day. I think that I'd most compare her work to Theodore Sturgeon (particularly his short stories) or Clifford D. Simak.

Since this volume is out of print, I'm providing a list of the stories. I've starred my personal favorites:

The Indelible Kind (*)
J-Line to Nowhere
You Know What, Teacher? (*)
The Effectives
Loo Ree (*)
The Closest School
Three-Cornered and Secure
The Taste of Aunt Sophronia
The Believing Child (*)
Through a Glass- Darkly
As Simple As That (*)
Swept and Garnished
One of Them
Sharing Time
Ad Astra
Incident After
The Walls
Crowning Glory
Boona on Scancia
Love Every Third Stir

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonder and Tears, August 24, 2003

By 

J. A. Eyon "Little Raven" (Seattle - USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Holding Wonder (Mass Market Paperback)

HOLDING WONDER contains one of the most powerful stories I've ever read. It is called "You Know What, Teacher?" and it is a rare venture for Zenna Henderson outside of fantasy (it was originally published in "Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine"). But the setting is in a children's classroom, Miss Henderson's specialty. The ending takes my breath away whenever I re-read it--which is frequently. All of Zenna Henderson's books have at least one story worth the price of the book.