whatifWhat if…? Amazing Stories, selected by Monica Hughes • Tundra Books, 1998. 199 pages.

I don’t often balk at a book’s cover, but this one gave me pause. With an illustration that probably looked dated when the book was published in the late nineties and a font that screams “I was hip once, you whippersnappers,” the book reminded me of everything I didn’t like about 1998. Or maybe everything I liked a little *too* much. No, I don’t want to put on gold lamé bellbottoms and throw a rave in the dorm’s common room, thankyouverymuch.

But my design-related post traumatic stress aside, this is a very good book. Centered around the theme of the “fantastical, the highly improbable, and the seemingly impossible,” it includes stories ranging from fantasy to science fiction and even mild horror (more ghost stories than gore).

Short works from Canadian authors ranging from Allison Baird to Tim Wynne-Jones tell stories that alternate from heartbreakingly tragic to eerily crafted and even downright funny. “The Tunnel,” the third story in the volume and written by Sarah Ellis, made it hard to fall asleep last night. Lesley Choyce’s “Book of Days,” the book’s final tale, had me in tears. Forget Canadian, forget fantastic. These stories are just plain good.

Fans of Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man will enjoy the light fantastic touch in a lot of these stories. Readers who enjoyed the light spookiness of Paul Yee’s stories will find a lot to love here, too. Though I definitely enjoyed some stories more than others, there were no weak links here. Recommended for middle schoolers and teens.