People often ask me what the image on the cover of my YA short story collection, Weeds and other Stories, has to do with what’s inside the book. I don’t really know (I had no role in the art selection). There are no circuses and no fire-eaters in any of the stories. People (at least people who work in certain book stores) are also mislead by the title. I once found it shelved in the gardening section of Chapters.
In a way, the stories in this book are more in keeping with the theme of this blog than any of my other stories. The protagonists are all urban teens who encounter nature or “wildness” in some way — often in unexpected places or unexpected ways.
Why bring it up now when the book came out back in 2003? Yes, I’d love some new readers to discover it, of course, but what brought it to mind tonight was I was digging through some old files and came across some artwork I did with the book in mind: a kind of alternative cover image, I guess (though it’s not very good and I would have prefered something photographic — perhaps with a coyote disappearing down a dark alley, some graffitti on an urban wall, a dandelion poking out of a crack in the pavement, the shadow of a girl…). Anyway, I thought I’d share it (and in case you’re wondering, that’s supposed to be a coyote in the top left):
wild ink 
December 4, 2008 at 9:23 pm |
I hope more people read Weeds too. I have been using it with some of my Japanese students for the past couple of months. I had read Weeds when it originally came out but now, reading it again with my students, I find that the stories have not lost any of their impact. They really do explore the world of the teen, both young women and young men, with very perceptive observations and sensitive language. I think it would be a great book for high schools to pick up.
December 5, 2008 at 12:13 am |
Thanks! Apparently it’s being read in some schools in the Maritimes, but otherwise I’m not sure if many people are finding it.