Creative writing

Part of the expansion of the Basher series into topics other than science, this concise guide breaks down stories and storytelling, illustrated by Basher's recognizable brand of cute, animesque cartoon iconography. The book is divided into five sections: "What's the Story?" examines nine genres of writing, including adventure and horror ("Scads of my once wild predictions have collided smack into ordinary reality," boasts Science Fiction, wearing a spacesuit and balancing a futuristic city on its head), and subsequent chapters cover theme, setting, plot, structure, viewpoint, diction, and more. Each topic is explained clearly and with light humor-"You can't shut me up!" says Dialogue, represented as two sharp-edged sets of lips-and a foldout poster underscores how these many parts come together to create a story. Ages 8-up. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Written by Mary Budzik. In this chatty small-trim primer, genres, parts of a story, devices, and more are concisely defined and then introduce themselves: Horror warns "I'll give you the chills!"; Structure calls itself "Plot's conscience." Anthropomorphizing these concepts textually and in the manga-style illustrations may confuse young readers, but the field-guide format is fairly easy to navigate. A removable poster is included. Glos., ind. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.