Unexpected Magic: Collected Stories

Unexpected Magic\ Collected Stories \ \ By Jones, Diana Wynne \ Greenwillow Books\ ISBN: 0060555335 \ \ \ \ The\ Girl\ Jones\ \ It was 1944. I was nine years old and fairly new to the village. They called me "The girl Jones." They called anyone "The girl this" or "The boy that" if they wanted to talk about them a lot. Neither of my sisters was ever called "The girl Jones." They were never notorious.\ On this particular Saturday morning I was waiting in our yard with my sister Ursula because a girl called Jean had promised to come and play. My sister Isobel was also hanging around. She was not exactly with us, but I was the one she came to if anything went wrong and she liked to keep in touch. I had only met Jean at school before. I was thinking that she was going to be pretty fed up to find we were lumbered with two little ones.\ When Jean turned up, rather late, she was accompanied by two little sisters, a five-year-old very like herself and a tiny three-year-old called Ellen. Ellen had white hair and a little brown stormy face with an expression on it that said she was going to bite anyone who gave her any trouble. She was alarming. All three girls were dressed in impeccable starched cotton frocks that made me feel rather shabby. I had dressed for the weekend. But then so had they, in a different way.\ "Mum says I got to look after them," Jean told me dismally. "Can you have them for me for a bit while I do her shopping? Then we can play."\ I looked at stormy Ellen with apprehension. "I'm not very good at looking after little ones," I said.\ "Oh, go on!" Jean begged me. "I'll be much quicker without them. I'll be your friend if you do."\ So far, Jean had shown a desire to play, but had never offered friendship. I gave in. Jean departed, merrily swinging her shopping bag.\ Almost at once a girl called Eva turned up. She was an official friend. She wore special boots and one of her feet was just a sort of blob. Eva fascinated me, not because of the foot but because she was so proud of it. She used to recite the list of all her other relatives who had queer feet, ending with, "And my uncle has only one toe." She too carried a shopping bag and had a small one in tow, a brother in her case, a wicked five-year-old called Terry. "Let me dump him on you while I do the shopping," Eva bargained, "and then we can play. I won't be long."\ "I don't know about looking after boys," I protested. But Eva was a friend and I agreed. Terry was left standing beside stormy Ellen, and Eva went away.\ A girl I did not know so well, called Sybil, arrived next. She wore a fine blue cotton dress with a white pattern and was hauling along two small sisters, equally finely dressed. "Have these for me while I do the shopping and I'll be your friend." She was followed by a rather older girl called Cathy, with a sister, and then a number of girls I only knew by sight. Each of them led a small sister or brother into our yard. News gets round in no time in a village. "What have you done with your sisters, Jean?" "Dumped them on the girl Jones." Some of these later arrivals were quite frank about it.\ "I heard you're having children. Have these for me while I go down the Rec."\ "I'm not good at looking after children," I claimed each time before I gave in. I remember thinking this was rather odd of me. I had been in sole charge of Isobel for years. As soon as Ursula was four, she was in my charge too. I suppose I had by then realized I was being had for a sucker and this was my way of warning all these older sisters. But I believed what I said. I was not good at looking after little ones.\ In less than twenty minutes I was standing in the yard surrounded by small children. I never counted, but there were certainly more than ten of them. None of them came above my waist. They were all beautifully dressed because they all came from what were called the "clean families." The "dirty families" were the ones where the boys wore big black boots with metal in the soles and the girls had grubby frocks that were too long for them. These kids had starched creases in their clothes and clean socks and shiny shoes. But they were, all the same, skinny, knowing, village children. They knew their sisters had shamelessly dumped them and they were disposed to riot.\ "Stop all that damned noise!" bellowed my father. "Get these children out of here!"\ He was always angry. This sounded near to an explosion.\ "We're going for a walk," I told the milling children. "Come along." And I said to Isobel, "Coming?"\ She hovered away backward. "No." Isobel had a perfect instinct for this kind of thing. Some of my earliest memories are of Isobel's sturdy brown legs flashing round and round as she rode her tricycle for dear life away from a situation I had got her into. These days, she usually arranged things so that she had no need to run for her life. I was annoyed. I could have done with her help with all these kids. But not that annoyed. Her reaction told me that something interesting was going to happen.\ "We're going to have an adventure," I told the children.\ (Continues...) \ \ \ \ Excerpted from Unexpected Magic by Jones, Diana Wynne Excerpted by permission.\ All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.\ Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site. \ \

The Girl Jones1Nad and Dan and Quaffy13The Plague of Peacocks36The Master50Enna Hittims71The Cirl Who Loved the Sun89The Fluffy Pink Toadstool109Auntie Bea's Day Out118Carruthers131What the Cat Told Me156The Creen Stone181The Fat Wizard188No One203Dragon Reserve, Home Eight233Little Dot266Everard's Ride303

\ Publishers WeeklyOld favorites come in new trimmings with the gathering together of these 16 previously published stories by Diana Wynne Jones in Unexpected Magic: Collected Stories. Shorter tales include "The Master," a vet's account of a strange, portentous dream she has about a house in the forest, and "The Girl Who Loved the Sun," wherein Phega's adoration for that celestial body causes her to repeatedly attempt to transform herself into a tree. Jones's four-part novella, "Everard's Ride," concludes the collection, with the tale of Cecelia and Alex, siblings who travel to a mysterious island to help Robert, a fugitive accused of murder. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ VOYAJones collects some of her best, previously published, short fiction in this anthology, covering contemporary, mystery, and fantasy settings. Some highlights include the short stories Enna Hittims and The Fluffy Pink Toadstool, which offer wonderfully fun and fantastical adventures. They have strange and wild plots where the impossible is absolutely possible and believable. The stories The Girl Jones and The Girl Who Loved the Sun are poignant tales of growing up and dealing with society's sometimes strict rules, leaving readers feeling thoughtful about their own possible choices in life. The dark and deeply suspenseful stories What the Cat Told Me, The Fat Wizard, and Little Dot are gripping until the end and show readers how difficult life situations can be, but how good things can happen in life with perseverance and effort. Finally, the novella Everard's Ride is full of other-dimension adventure, fairy-tale love, and friendship building. This collection will be in demand with readers who really like fantasy and science fiction genres. It is a must-have for public and school libraries where Jones's work is popular, where fantasy fiction is well liked, or where short fiction is requested or used for school assignments. Some of the more abstract point-of-view stories might be slightly difficult for younger readers; however, these stories will appeal to all reading levels fifth grade to adult. VOYA Codes: 5Q 3P M J S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2004, HarperCollins, 504p., and PLB Ages 11 to 18. \ —Karen Sykeny\ \ \ School Library JournalGr 6 Up-This collection of 15 short stories and one novella begins with the autobiographical "The Girl Jones," about nine-year-old Diana. Among the selections that follow, readers will find stories about a science-fiction writer who becomes involved in an interstellar revolution, a haunting encounter with werewolves and a sinister fool, and a talking cat cursed with long life. In the concluding novella, four children become embroiled in intrigue over an innocent prince, an evil count, and a brave outlaw. All of the selections have characters that are both appealing and realistically flawed, and the worlds they inhabit are brought to life through detail and humor. Each story smoothly draws readers in and brings its own mood and adventure. This is a good choice for collections in which the author has a following, though the lack of "Chrestomanci" stories and the somewhat daunting size may put off readers. The hefty volume includes most of the selections from Warlock at the Wheel and Other Stories (1985; o.p.) and Believing Is Seeing: Seven Stories (1999). However, the lack of overlap with Stopping for a Spell (2004) and Mixed Magics (2001, all Greenwillow), along with the new tales included, makes this a solid addition.-Beth L. Meister, Yeshiva of Central Queens, Flushing, NY Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Kirkus ReviewsThis eclectic collection of previously published stories will delight existing fans and win new ones. Here's an impressive range, from "Enna Hittims," in which a young girl's unintentional magic looses tiny heroes to ravage her home, to the novella "Everard's Ride," a historical fantasy full of epic political maneuverings. "The Girl Who Loved the Sun" provides an unusual romance among Jones's trademark humor. "Dragon Reserve, Home Eight" explores power on a world where each wife rules over her several husbands. Closer to home, in "Carruthers," Elizabeth uses her magical stick to overcome her sexist father. Stock stories gain depth when told from unfamiliar perspectives, as with "The Green Stone," narrated by the harassed scribe of a high-fantasy quest, or with "Little Dot's" narrator, the comfort-loving cat of a neighborhood Wizard. The presumably autobiographical "The Girl Jones" adds a touch of personal eccentricity. The running theme of surprise, reversed expectations, and the unexpected gives this collection a constant impact. Great work from one of the best modern fantasy authors; too bad none are new. (Fiction. 10+)\ \