Europe

Materials from Europe

The Declaration

It’s the year 2140 and Longevity drugs have all but eradicated old age. A never-aging society can’t sustain population growth, however…which means Anna should never have been born. Nor should any of the children she lives with at Grange Hall. The facility is full of boys and girls whose parents chose to have kids—called surpluses—despite a law forbidding them from doing so. These children are raised as servants, and brought up to believe they must atone for their very existence. Then one day a boy named Peter appears at the Hall, bringing with him news of the world outside, a place where people are starting to say that Longevity is bad, and that maybe people shouldn’t live forever. Peter begs Anna to escape with him, but Anna’s not sure who to trust: the strange new boy whose version of life sounds like a dangerous fairy tale, or the familiar walls of Grange Hall and the head mistress who has controlled her every waking thought?

Take a closer look at The Declaration as examined in WOW Review.

Priceless Gifts

There is an old saying that good things come in small packages. In this story from Italy, storytellers Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss show us that good things also come in furry packages. When a merchant finds himself in a land that is overrun by rats, he realizes that he has the most priceless gift in this country, namely his ship’s cats.

Starcross: A Stirring Adventure of Spies, Time Travel and Curious Hats

Young Arthur Mumby, his sister Myrtle, and their mother accept an invitation to take a holiday at an up-and-coming resort in the asteroid belt, where they become involved in a dastardly plot involving spies, time travel, and mind-altering clothing.

Lovey and Dovey

Lovey and Dovey have stolen each other’s hearts. And a pair of blue socks from the shop on the corner. That’s why they’re in prison. But iron bars won’t keep Dovey from sneaking out of their dungeon every night to bring back presents for his Lovey.

Freaky Stuff

Premonition n.: pre-mo-ni-shun.Spine-tingling, gut churning feeling you get that you can see into the future where something is about to go horribly wrong! Look out, World.  Fasten your seatbelts.  Brian Hobble is back! He’s survived all the weird stuff that happened last year when his favorite author, Lance Cummins visited his school.  And now Cummins’s bestselling book Zombie Squad has been turned into a hit TV show.  Brian knows the monsters on the show aren’t real, but before he knows it, he has to save his little brother from flesh-eating zombies, rollerblade off a ramp 17,000,000,000 miles high, and most terrifying of all, kiss a girl. He’s not saying who she is yet. He’ll never crack so don’t even try breaking him. Prepare to be freaked. Very freaked!

Her Mother’s Face

When Siobhan was just three years old, her mother died, leaving Siobhan and her father alone in their house in Dublin. They never talk about her, and now, at ten years old, Siobhan no longer remembers her mother’s face. One day, Siobhan meets a mysterious woman in the park who tells her that to remember her mother, she just needs to look in a mirror. As Siobhan grows older, she sees more and more of her mother’s face in her own reflection. With time, she and her father and her own daughter are able to remember Siobhan’s mother with joy and laughter instead of tears.