Weird, Weirder, Weirdest by Martii Maclean

The Synopsis:

This quirky collection of short stories will take you to weird worlds just beyond the here and now. Strange places where kids can control time, playing is against the law and rag-doll girls can become real. In these places magic can be found everywhere, even in cakes, pens and running shoes.

I received this book from the author for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.

Review:

Kids love weird stories. They like to make them up, hear them, and talk about them with their friends.

Weird, Weirder, Weirdest has some, well, weird stories. They’re quick and often have uncanny endings. Some were amusing and funny, while others left me scratching my head. Some have interesting concepts that make one think, and still others that are far-fetched and almost ridiculous.

I reminded myself that these were for kids (middle grade and under) but I found myself really wishing they had a point. Perhaps an underlaying message that could be taken away from the fable-like tales, but if there were any hidden messages, they were hidden awfully well because I couldn’t find them.

There is one story that I thought might confront the issue of bullying (titled: Just Desserts), but instead of there being an example of how to properly handle the situation, the story ended with the main character feeding the bullies magic cake that made them instantly fat and after they returned from the hospital, they were magically nicer.

I like silly stories, I really do, I just like the silly stories to illustrate truths that the readers can learn from. Especially kids who have to deal with bullies in their own lives.

So, I did enjoy some of the short stories contained in this collection (the one called Hands Free was especially intriguing to me), but others I wasn’t pleased with. I’ll be giving Weird, Weirder, Weirdest 3 stars out of 5 and recommend it to older kids who might grasp some meaning from the stories that I may have missed.