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 PUBLISHER

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

FROM THE CRITICS

VOYA - Jamie S. Hansen

What if animals took over the earth? What if the stars only appeared every thousand years? What if a boy found a magic scepter? These and other intriguing questions are answered in a collection edited by science fiction author Monica Hughes. Seventeen Canadian writers, including Hughes, Charles de Lint, Tim Wynne-Jones, and Sarah Ellis, contribute poems and short stories about possibilities; about the improbable, the impossible, and the fantastical. Several of the pieces have appeared elsewhere. As is often the case with anthologies, the quality of the selections is uneven. Some of the pieces are outstandingly good. De Lint's A Wish Named Arnold is a clever, feel-good tale suggesting everyone has one wish that can come true; while The Good Mother, by Priscilla Galloway, is a dark, but poignant, version of Little Red Riding Hood with a tough and resourceful all-female cast. Hughes includes James Alan Gardner's award-winning Muffin Explains Teleology to the World at Large, the hilarious saga of a worldly-wise six-year-old who gets a special deal on Earth's last day. Jason Kapalka reveals the truth about that famous snowman in his witty Frosty. Other selections are less imaginative and more derivative, but they are all entertaining and generally well written. Two lovely, wistful poems about stars and water form what the editor calls "bookends containing the varied stories within." In spite of the ugly cover design, featuring a yellow alien and particularly unpleasant typefaces, this anthology should move off the shelves into the hands of fantasy lovers. VOYA Codes: 4Q 4P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses, Broad general YA appeal, Middle School-defined as grades 6 to 8 and Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9).

School Library Journal