The Magic Toybox
This theme anthology plays with the notion of toys brought to life by the love and belief of the children who play with them. In Mel Odom's Sherlock Holmes pastiche, "The Affair of the Wooden Boy," a wooden puppet saves a boy from having his body stolen by a vicious sorceress. In Diane Duane's "The Fix," a wooden gladiator that a child slave in ancient Rome dreams of owning eventually gains him his freedom. In Jean Rabe's antic "Roadshow," a stolen Mr. Magoo car breaks away fromThe OldThings Roadshow to get back to its rightful owner.A toy castle solves the problems of an adult woman in Laura Resnick's "Lady Roxanne La Belle," while in Gail Selinger's "Jack Tar," a toy sailor protects a family's sons. The other nine entries are likewise enjoyable for their plots and individual styles. Scary, funny, tragic, triumphant; set in past, present, future, and at least one alternate world, these stories make up a nicely original collection.Frieda MurrayCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved