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A review by oleksandr
Apex Magazine Issue 105 by Jason Sizemore
3.0
This is a short story, which was nominated for Nebula in 2019 and can also become a Hugo 2019 Award nominee. It was initially published in Uncanny Magazine.
The genre is maybe modern fantasy. There are two types of librarians: the prudish, bitter ones with lipstick running into the cracks around their lips who believe the books are their personal property and patrons are dangerous delinquents come to steal them; and witches. Our narrator of the second type. When a black poor boy comes to the library, she supplies his with escapist fantasy. Others try to force him into reading about ‘real issues’, self-help books, but we, the fellow readers know what is better. ;)
A nice short story, which reminded me a bit of Gaiman’s “Feral child raised by librarians” and several other stories, which praise (rightfully so!) public libraries and their workers. However, I cannot say it is exactly a novel story or approach.
The genre is maybe modern fantasy. There are two types of librarians: the prudish, bitter ones with lipstick running into the cracks around their lips who believe the books are their personal property and patrons are dangerous delinquents come to steal them; and witches. Our narrator of the second type. When a black poor boy comes to the library, she supplies his with escapist fantasy. Others try to force him into reading about ‘real issues’, self-help books, but we, the fellow readers know what is better. ;)
A nice short story, which reminded me a bit of Gaiman’s “Feral child raised by librarians” and several other stories, which praise (rightfully so!) public libraries and their workers. However, I cannot say it is exactly a novel story or approach.