welcome to bordertown
Paperback edition, April 2012
Bluefire Books, an imprint of Random House
Cover photograph © 2012 by wtamas/Shutterstock.com
Cover design by Ellice M. Lee
Welcome to Bordertown is the latest addition to the Bordertown series, an urban fantasy shared world for young adults and teens. In this volume of all-new work (including a 15-page graphic story), original series writers like Charles de Lint and Emma Bull are joined by the generation that grew up dreaming of Bordertown, including acclaimed authors Cassandra Clare, Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman, Catherynne M. Valente, and many more. Join them on the streets of Bordertown with more than twenty interconnected songs, poems, and stories.
"This is punk-rock, DIY fantasy, full of harsh reality and incandescent magic."
"It's easy to be transported by each entry's rich details and compelling characters... Every contribution brings something valuable and new... and readers will leave richer for having had the Bordertown experience, and eager for more."
"There is no weak link: from the opening guide to 'Bordertown Basics' and the introductory story by Kushner and Windling, readers will be sucked into the lives of those who find themselves living on the outskirts of all worlds."
"The next best thing to being able to go to Bordertown yourself."
"Buy it. Then tell your friends to buy it. I'd say lend it out, but you might not get it back."
Awards
Selection
Great Buzz Pile, School Library Journal
Summer 2011 Kids' Next List, Indie Bestsellers List
2011 Recommended Reading List, Locus Magazine
2012 Rainbow List: GLBTQ Books for Children and Teens, American Library AssociationNominee
2012 Teen Choice Book of the Year, TeenReads
Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers 2012, YALSA
2012 Locus Award for Best Anthology
Read stories and poems from Welcome to Bordertown (and other Bordertown collections).
More reviews on the Press page.
Hardcover edition, May 2011, Random House Children's Books
Cover illustration by Steve Stone, cover design by Ellice Lee
Excerpts
Introductions
From the editors of Welcome to Bordertown
Holly Black
Ellen Kushner
Terri WindlingStories
"A Prince of Thirteen Days" by Alaya Dawn Johnson
"Shannon's Law" by Cory Doctorow (also available as an audio file from Podcast--Escape Pod, Episode #291)
"The Rowan Gentleman" by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, read by Kara Grace
"Ours Is The Prettiest" by Nalo Hopkinson, read by Nalo Hopkinson
Poems
The Wall by Delia Sherman
Cruel Sister by Patricia A. McKillip
Stairs in her Hair by Amal El-Mohtar
(music by Gabriel Bouchard, read by Dounya El-Mohtar)
The Contributors
Christopher Barzak
Holly Black
Steven Brust
Emma Bull
Cassandra Clare
Charles de Lint
Cory Doctorow
Amal El-Mohtar
Neil Gaiman
Nalo Hopkinson
Alaya Dawn Johnson
Annette Curtis Klause
Ellen Kushner
Patricia A. McKillip
Dylan Meconis
Tim Pratt
Sara Ryan
Delia Sherman
Will Shetterly
Janni Lee Simner
Catherynne M. Valente
Terri Windling
Jane Yolen
About the Editors
HOLLY BLACK is the author of bestselling contemporary fantasy books for kids and teens. Some of her titles include The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Modern Faerie Tale series, The Good Neighbors graphic novel trilogy, and her new Curse Workers series, which begins with White Cat. She has been a finalist for both the Mythopoeic Award and Eisner Award, and the recipient of the Andre Norton Award.
ELLEN KUSHNER's award-winning novels include the "mannerpunk" cult classic Swordspoint, The Privilege of the Sword, and Thomas the Rhymer. Kushner's children's story, The Golden Dreydl: A Klezmer "Nutcracker," has been produced as a CD (with Shirim Klezmer Orchestra), a chapter book, and onstage by New York's Vital Theatre. She is known to national public radio audiences as the longtime host of public radio's weekly program Sound & Spirit. She lives in New York City.
TERRI WINDLING's original Bordertown series was the forerunner of today's urban fantasy. Windling was the founder and co-creator (with Midori Snyder) of the Endicott Studio and the Journal for Mythic Arts. With Ellen Datlow she edited the multiple award-winning Year's Best Fantasy and Horror series, the Snow White, Blood Red series, the Mythic Fiction series, and more. She is the author of The Wood Wife, and lives in Devon, England.
Want more? Check out Random Buzzers' Q&A where editors Holly Black, Ellen Kushner, and series creator Terri Windling answer readers' questions about Welcome to Bordertown.