What If...? Amazing Stories [Paperback]

Monica Hughes (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 12, 1998 | Age Level: 11 and up | Grade Level: 6 and up

Fantastical stories to spur the imagination.

What if? It’s a question that is the beginning of endless possibilities. When science fiction writer Monica Hughes posed this question to a group of science fiction and fantasy writers, the result was this incredible collection of stories.

Covering the galaxy in setting and every possible emotion, these tales pose some interesting questions. What if the moon was haunted by a beautiful maiden? What if noise was forbidden and music was a crime? What if famous people were cloned over and over again? What if only you could save the world and you don’t know how?

List of contributors for What If…?
Alison Baird, Edo van Belkom, Lesley Choyce, Joan Clark, Charles de Lint, Sarah Ellis, Marcel Gagné, Priscilla Galloway, James Alan Gardner, Monica Hughes, Jason Kapalka, Eileen Kernaghan, Alice Major, Robert Priest, Jean-Louis Trudel, Tim Wynne-Jones

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 5 UpHughes has collected 14 short stories written by talented Canadians and flanked them with poems to form a superb and varied anthology of fantasy and science fiction. Alison Baird, Lesley Choyce, Charles de Lint, Sarah Ellis, Priscilla Galloway, James Alan Gardner, and Tim Wynne-Jones are among the authors represented. Many of the stories have appeared in other publications; others appear in print for the first time. While some tales step sideways from the ordinary world into the fantastical, others take place in other times or alternate realities. However, the quality of writing and originality of ideas remain consistent throughout. The voices of the storytellers, whimsical or pithy, make this collection accessible for anyone with a love of these two genres.Trish Anderson, Pinkerton Elementary School, Coppell, TX

Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

Fantastical stories to spur the imagination.

What if? It?s a question that is the beginning of endless possibilities. When science fiction writer Monica Hughes posed this question to a group of science fiction and fantasy writers, the result was this incredible collection of stories.

Covering the galaxy in setting and every possible emotion, these tales pose some interesting questions. What if the moon was haunted by a beautiful maiden? What if noise was forbidden and music was a crime? What if famous people were cloned over and over again? What if only you could save the world and you don?t know how?

List of contributors for What If??
Alison Baird, Edo van Belkom, Lesley Choyce, Joan Clark, Charles de Lint, Sarah Ellis, Marcel Gagné, Priscilla Galloway, James Alan Gardner, Monica Hughes, Jason Kapalka, Eileen Kernaghan, Alice Major, Robert Priest, Jean-Louis Trudel, Tim Wynne-Jones

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Paperback: 199 pages
• Publisher: Tundra Books (September 12, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887764584
• ISBN-13: 978-0887764585
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.5 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,638,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( H ) > Hughes, Monica

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Different Approach to Science Fiction, January 12, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: What If...? Amazing Stories (Paperback)

Do you like science fiction? This book could be a combination of science fiction and short stories. There are 2 big poems in it and many stories talk about a different type of the end of the world-one with a six-year-old girl ruling all ('Muffin Explains Teleology to the World at Large') and two siblings that never expected the end to go on forever ('The Book of Days'). Many stories are just potporri. There are lots of different types of stories to satisfy lots of different tastes. The weakest story is that of Monica Hughes herself ('The Stranger')- but you could hardly say it was bad. My personal favorite was 'A Wish Named Arnold' in which a girl named Margurite finds a "wish" in a brass unscrewable egg. They develop a close relationship, as Margurite is able to 'talk' to Arnold. They get so close that Margurite soon forgets he is a wish-and leaves him in a resturaunt. To find out the end, buy this awesome 5 star book-or check it out at your librairy. It is an awesome book that will satisfy your every desire for knowledge and a good book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not very trippy what-ifs, December 7, 2001

By 

Scott Woods (Columbus, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What If...? Amazing Stories (Paperback)

A what-if book should have really intriguing what-ifs for the writers in the book to work from (or should at least collect intriguing tales of the sort). It's not good enough to get decent writers...the what-ifs have to be ultimately compelling as well. They, more often than not, are the root of the reasoning behind readers picking up such collections. Sadly, this book doesn't give us too many chair-gripping scenarios: "What if the last snow leopard on Earth were threatened?" "What if the animals grew huge and took over?" "What if you could breathe life into paper?"

Yeah, what if. Big deal. These examples aren't even true what-if scenarios (alternate realities, twisted moments of decision in time, etc.)...just fantasy or horror tossed into a what-if pot. Asking "What if you could breathe life into paper?" isn't a question of leaping logic or missed opportunity or the world gone mad, it's fantasy, and when I want to read that, I go to the fantasy end of the bookcase.

Good idea gone bad.