The stories in this collection imaginatively take readers far across the universe, into the very core of their beings, to the realm of the Gods, and to the moment just after now. Included are the works of masters of the form and the bright new talents of tomorrow. This book is a valuable resource in addition to serving as the single best place in the universe to find stories that stir the imagination and the heart.

It?s 1972. Twelve-year-old Joan is sure that she is going to be miserable when her family moves. Then she meets a most unusual girl. Sarah prefers to be called ?Fox,? and lives with her author dad in a rundown house in the middle of the woods. The two girls start writing their own stories together, and when one wins first place in a student contest, they find themselves recruited for a summer writing class taught by the equally unusual Verla Volante. The Wild Girls brilliantly explores friendship, the power of story, and how coming of age means finding your own answers.

Island Dreams is an all-new anthology of daring and imaginative tales from established authors as well as new voices. Science fiction, fantasy, horror, surrealism, and other outré; genres are on the menu, from the pen of authors such as Yves Meynard, winner of numerous awards for his French-language fiction and author of the English-language novel The Book of Knights; Glenn Grant, co-editor of Northern Stars and Northern Suns; Mark Shainblum, co-creator of Angloman and Northguard; Melissa Yuan-Innes, a Writers of the Future contest winner; Mark Paterson, a leading voice in the Montreal spoken-word scene; Maxianne Berger, author of How We Negotiate; Martin Last, co-founder of New York's legendary Science Fiction Shop; Shane Simmons, creator of Longshot Comics; and Dora Knez, author of Five Forbidden Things. Other contributors include Linda Dydyk, Elise Moser, and Christos Tsirbas. Praise for Witpunk (2003), edited by Claude Lalumière: "Twenty-six big laughs at the way the world turns ... strongly sardonic fiction ... Ringingly brilliant." -Kirkus Review Claude Lalumière founded Nebula in 1989, a Montreal bookshop devoted to "the fantastic, the imaginative, and the weird," which he managed through most of the 1990s. He writes a weekly Fantastic Fiction column for the Montreal Gazette. As an anthologist his books include Telling Stories: New English Fiction from Québec, Open Space: New Canadian Fantastic Fiction, and Witpunk. His fiction has appeared in magazines and anthologies in North America, in the UK, and on the Web. His story "The Ethical Treatment of Meat" was shortlisted for the Origins Awards and has been praised by critics as one of the best stories of 2002.

Beyond our skies...and imaginations. Are we alone in the universe, and if not, who else-or what else-is out there? Here are thought-provoking stories that explore such questions as: Do intelligent species invariably destroy themselves by nuclear war or ecological collapse? Are the sentient aliens that do exist just too far away? Do they exist in forms beyond our comprehension? Are they among us, but undetectable? These are just some of the possibilities explored by a stellar lineup of contributors.

The first collection of short fiction from the award-winning novelist.

Anthologies, awards, journals, and works in translation have sprung up to reflect science fiction's increasingly international scope. Yet scholars and students alike face a problem. Where does one begin to explore global SF in the absence of an established canon? Lingua Cosmica opens the door to some of the creators in the vanguard of international science fiction. Eleven experts offer innovative English-language scholarship on figures ranging from Cuban pioneer Daína Chaviano to Nigerian filmmaker Olatunde Osunsanmi to the Hugo Award-winning Chinese writer Liu Cixin. These essays invite readers to ponder the themes, formal elements, and unique cultural characteristics within the works of these irreplaceable—if too-little-known—artists. Dale Knickerbocker includes fantasists and genre-benders pushing SF along new evolutionary paths even as they draw on the traditions of their own literary cultures. Includes essays on Daína Chaviano (Cuba), Jacek Dukaj (Poland), Jean-Claude Dunyac (France), Andreas Eschbach (Germany), Angélica Gorodischer (Argentina), Sakyo Komatsu (Japan), Liu Cixin (China), Laurent McAllister (Yves Meynard and Jean-Louis Trudel, Francophone Canada), Olatunde Osunsanmi (Nigeria), Johanna Sinisalo (Finland), and Arkady and Boris Strugatsky (Russia). Contributors: Alexis Brooks de Vita, Pawel Frelik, Yvonne Howell, Yolanda Molina-Gavilán, Vibeke Rützou Petersen, Amy J. Ransom, Hanna-Riikka Roine, Hanna Samola, Mingwei Song, Tatsumi Takayuki, Juan Carlos Toledano Redondo, and Natacha Vas-Deyres.