Half a Creature from the Sea

Starred review from June 29, 2015
Beyond offering eight alluring epiphany stories (most previously published elsewhere), Almond (The Tightrope Walkers) provides a rare glimpse into the writer’s imagination and the process of creation. “I try to do what many writers have done before me: show that ordinary places can be extraordinary,” he notes in the introduction. The selections are prefaced with childhood memories that serve as inspiration for strange, mysterious narratives illuminated by Taylor’s haunting b&w drawings. Almond invites readers to journey through streets lined with small stores, to savor a saveloy sandwich from the local pork shop, and to ponder the possibility of fathers, dead and gone, returning to Earth. They will visit strange houses reputedly occupied by monsters or poltergeists, and move on toward the coast where a home-schooled girl is drawn to the sea. They will meet bullies, a priest who does not believe in God, boys who love soccer, and girls who decide to run a half marathon. The sights, sounds, smells, and emotions evoked in these stories will long resonate with readers and act as reminders of the joys, tragedies, and magic of childhood. Ages 12–up.

August 1, 2015

Gr 7 Up-A "monster" chained in May Malone's house is not what it seems; God visits a friend's garden; a bullied child commits the ultimate sin; a girl named Annie knows she is truly a mermaid, and has a picture to prove it-Almond's eight short stories, all set in gritty northern England, are about the improbable, the beautiful, and the mysterious. Each story includes an introductory note that details the origins of the story and its impact on Almond. The style and tone of the collection is reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's otherworldly works. While these tales are mostly autobiographical, elements of magic, mysticism, and mindfulness are laced throughout. The author delivers realistically magical vignettes for niche readers. VERDICT A unique contribution to the rather small genre of young adult short stories.-Amanda C. Buschmann, Atascocita Middle School, Humble, TX

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 1, 2015
Award-winning British novelist Almond (Kit's Wilderness, 1999; The Fire-Eaters, 2004, etc.) offers readers a glimpse into the workings of his alchemical imagination in this collection of eight otherworldly short stories set in his hometown of Felling-on-Tyne. Almond's small-town stories of savage bullies and beautiful souls are so alive and vividly spun they often feel at least partly true. Here, the author prefaces each fictional short story with some autobiographical context. "Slog's Dad," about a father who returns from heaven to visit his son, was inspired by a Raymond Carver line "I've got how much longer?" In "May Malone," May calls a Catholic priest a "bliddy liar" in church just as one of the author's friends did, and "The Missing Link" was going to be an "outsider" story but ended up a ghost story. The tale-behind-the-tale preludes are intriguing-perhaps especially to big fans and those interested in the writing process-but the stories themselves shine brightest here. Taylor's illustrations, sometimes cartoonish, sometimes more abstract and moody, cast the Almondine experience in yet another new light. This is powerful, top-notch storytelling from Almond, who seems himself to be the titular "half a creature from the sea," in that he, as ever, fluidly blends past and future, the living and the dead, the ordinary and the transcendent. (Fiction/memoir. 13 & up)

COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 15, 2015
Grades 9-12 Can this be real? That's what we're left wondering as each new story in Half a Creature from the Sea teasingly unfolds. British author Almond blurs the lines between the supernatural and reality with aplomb in his latest collection of short fiction. Satisfyingly, each story is preceded by an autobiographical foreword, as Almond weaves elements of his own provincial childhood into each tale, accompanied by Taylor's stylish gray-scale illustrations, which clatter around the edges of the pages. This only heightens the allure of the fantastical circumstances his characters find themselves in: a father descends from heaven to console his grieving son. Godor an imposter?visits a young girl's garden and grants wishes that seem implausible. A boy summons a poltergeist he only half fears. Almond's dialogue crackles with Briticisms and youthful English dialect. His scenes center on unsuspecting young adults making sense of mystical situations they unwittingly encounter. With each story, Almond cements his prolific, beloved place among writers of magic realism for today's young readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)