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“Ah, young love. But how much more alluring would she be hogtied and screaming?”

Excerpt From: Luciano Marano. “Humbug.” iBooks.

“The faint evidence of dawn could be seen backlighting the distant mountains beyond the city, like a thin red slash cut across the world.”

Excerpt From: Luciano Marano. “Humbug.” iBooks.

Presumed Destroyed with Brendan Shusterman is about the life of a hand gun. At first the gun is about to be destroyed but then is saved an illegally sold. The is sold and sold again passing the hands of three individuals. The story is very powerful and looks to the heart of gun violence in America. he story reminded me of Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. I like the gun has a conscience and does not want violence. 4.8

I liked the set up and I liked Myles purpose for the trip. I still was scratching my head over the reason, I guess not messing with time. But if I think more about the time traveling aspect it doesn't make sense. The final twist was straight out of Goosebumps and I loved it. 3.8

Opabinia is about Myles who keeps being visited by time travelers set to give him a message, but they keep appearing in walls and other things. One finally makes contact and says he is destined to watch prehistoric sea creatures at the the Burgess Shale. He is given a time machine, and is told by the time traveler he is destined to push the button a tie travel 5000 years in the past. The story is a little mixed.

Majority Rules is about a person who is a fulcrum in arguments of the world. Like is the Earth round or Flat. when the fulcrum is the tie breaker our reality shifts in that direction. The fulcrum has to decide once again. The story is okay. It is a good idea but I was not a fan of the way this story was told. 2

Pea Soup is an interesting horror story where a family is on a road trip, and they keep seeing billboards for Pea Soup. It gets in their head that they need it, and when they taste it they become addicted. It reminded me of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. But they wanted to rule the world with Pea Soup. This on gave Goosebumps vibes. The imagery is really good and a little scary. 4.7

There's a slight cosmic horror vibe to this story. The ending was great one of my favorites in this collection. The premise gets a little ridiculous and repetitive, but maintains it's fun. 4.5

Bad Fortune at Richard Yee's is about Robin and her family. They have a tradition of going to Richard Yee's a Chinese restaurant and everyone reading the fortune out loud. Once Robin's aunt read a fortune meant as a joke predicted her aunt's death. Since that day Robin has not opened any cookies and instead has been reading she made herself. But something changed and now she is getting haunted by fortune cookies.

Fear-for-All is about Seth who is fearless, but obsessed with fear since he is not afraid of anything. He gets accepted into Oakheart Academy, where every student has an irrational fear but him. But he has a purpose, and one he might fear the results. This story was interesting. The ending was okay for me, I wanted more explanation for how the end turned out for Seth. The fears were interesting. 3.6

Number Two is a flash fiction piece that is a page long. The twist is at the end and it was good. This reminded me a lot of a digital called Life of Pumpkin. I was confused on this one trying to figure it out until the end where I chuckled. The story has some great personification. 4

The story was good but a little too slow. it builds up to an exciting ending, but the story is a bit of a slow burn. I like the character of Mr. Beausoleil the only living first generation colonist. The conspiracy was good and how Lowell figured it out. And what he now has to do to survive it. 4.1

The Shit on Our Shoes is about Lowell an orphaned boy on a the space ship Primodius. The vessel is for colonist to secure the new planet. Lowell is made fun of for his bad odor, he is a farmer and does not want to waist the water. The new planet is less than a month away. What Lowell can't figure out is how the water supply is low. This questions leads him to discover what the real purpose of the colony is.

Dawn Terminator is an apocalyptic story about the sun going super nova and a family trying to make it to the arctic. They go to the arctic to escape the sun, since it is dark for 3 months. The destruction that is described is very effective. Poor San Fransisco. The story is compelling you can feel the desperation. It reminded me of the movie 2012. I liked Lauren and what she did with her artistic talent. 4.5

Terrible Tannenbaum is about a family purchasing a haunted Christmas tree. The story was very clever. It was very subtle horror but it was effective. The tree doesn't talk or anything but is still a presence. The 3 siblings have good banter. The ending was quirky but worked. 4.4

Ralphy Sherman's Jacuzzi of Wonders is a humorous story of a brother and sister who have to share a hot tub their father's new girlfriend. The brother sister clearly do not like her and tell all kinds of family secrets that can't be true, or can they. The story was a great use of sarcasm. I liked the story. Shusterman flips the already odd moment on its head. The siblings reminded me of the kids on Bob's Burgers. 4

Special Deliverance is about a delivery boy who has to make a special delivery to hell. The story is short. It is quirky but did not always land. I thought the story idea was okay. I like the ending, but hated the final line. This story was just okay. 3.1

The Bob Squad is about Bobby who awakes from a dream, with 7 strangers in business suits and clip boards staring at him. The strangers can do incredible things like walk through walls and pull objects out of nothing. The story has great twist that I will not reveal here. The story is very fun a quirky. It made me chuckle a couple of times. This story reminded me of Goosebumps a lot. especially the final twist. 4.6

Butterball is a flash fiction about a cooked turkey escaping the oven and more. The story is 1 page long. It is humorous and a good idea. I wanted it to continue a little more. The end line was okay, and could have been better. 3.8

The story is also about teen loneliness and what you would do for a friend. This is a horror story, with scary and creepy moments. This story is more YA than some others. The beginning is a little slow. The imagery is good, and a did like the ending. 4.3

Boy on a Stoop is about a young teenager that has no friends, finds a handsome boy on the stoop in a row of condemned buildings. She sees him everyday on her way to school, where he will smile and enjoy the sun. She gets up the courage to talk to him, and finds they have a lot in common. He sees her and wants to show her his place, which is deep in the condemned buildings. This story is about trusting strangers.

The ending was good. I like the way he fought back. And what was behind the horror in his head. 4.3

Midnight Michelangelo is about a graffiti artist who calls himself the the Midnight Michaelangelo. His art is horror or futureistic. He watches his art the Martians change from happy face to angry they get painted over. He start painting more horrific imagery then he had in mind. His art has started coming alive taunting him. I like the way the story slowly ramps up the horror. The horror felt Lovcraftian.

The ending was great. The ending was dark but fit. I like that covered absentee parents and abandonment. 4.7

Non-Player Character By Neal and Brendan Shusterman is about Darion a boy that is ignored by his parents in favor of an interactive zombie video game. Darion hasn't played the game even though his family bought him a head set. He watches them play and notices an NPC in the game looking at him. He decides to enter the game to talk to her. I really liked this story it had me guessing the direction it was going.

I loved the debate about the cornfield and whether is was evil or not. The reveal at the end of chapter 11 made me gasp I love the moment of history that was revealed. It was perfect for this kind of book with people, animals, and objects out of their timeline and in a alternate world.

The story was a little too predictable and easy to figure out where it was going. 3.8

The Living Place is about a family moving into a new house and discovering a place in their backyard that cures illness. The story is kind of a take on the Secret Garden. But the story takes a turn when this place full of life becomes effective. The story could be a metaphor for pollution. I thought this story had the best writing. There's some beautiful descriptions.

A good story about being and feeling alone. A good metaphor for being consumed by thoughts and abandonment. I loved the ending. I was perfect for the story. 4.6

The In Crowd is about a loner Alana who has been in and out of foster homes. She feels like a loner and has decided to live her life like it. When she finds a boy crying he goes to talk to him. He is a people person that can't be around people. He was the last person seen when a group of kids goes missing. Something is not making sense she finds out his secret, but it might make her disappear.