Bookverdict.com

Gr 4-Up For those who loved Tan's surreal and evocative The Arrival (Scholastic, 2007), the Australian author follows up with a brilliant collection of illustrated vignettes. Fifteen short texts, each accompanied by Tan's signature black-and-white and full-color artwork, take the mundane world and transform it into a place of magical wonders. In the opening tale, a water buffalo sits in an abandoned suburban lot, offering silent but wise direction to...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Tan follows his wordless epic The Arrival with a collection of—stories? fables? dreams? Take "Eric," a foreign exchange student who likes to sleep in the pantry, asks peculiar questions, and disappears "with little more than a wave and a polite good-bye," leaving...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Tan follows his wordless epic <i>The Arrival</i> with a collection of--stories? fables? dreams? His prose is low-key and exp...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

“The house at number seventeen was only ever mentioned with lowered voices by the neighbors. They knew well the frequent sounds of shouting, slamming doors, and crashing objects. But one sultry summer night, something else happened, something far more interesting: the appearance of a large marine animal on the front lawn.” These opening words of “Undertow” include many of the elements prevalent in Tales from Outer Suburbia: a suburban setting with something about it that is sad, broken, or otherwise upsetting...Log In or Sign Up to Read More