Trust Me Too, edited by Paul Collins

‘Trust Me Too’ is a second collection of stories, poetry, graphic stories and illustrations from Ford Street Publishing. Stories cover all genres, and are presented in a multitude of styles: serious, light-hearted, spine-tingling and rib-tickling. Most prose stories are around 1500 words, although there is also a novelette from Isabelle Carmody that is closer to 6000 words. There is poetry too, graphic stories and illustrations.

Deb Abela, Dianne Bates, Michael Gerard Bauer, Christine Bongers, Janeen Brian, Sue Bursztynski, Isobelle Carmody, Paul Collins, Meredith Costain, Bill Condon, Gary Crew, Margaret Clark, Justin d’Ath, Hazel Edwards, Corinne Fenton, JE Fison, Pat Flynn … the list of contributors goes on all the way to Gabrielle Wang, Sean Williams and Mark Wilson. 57 of them!

From the Forward: In the stories set in a world that is entirely familiar to us, we meet people who might be just like us – if not on the outside, then in the heart, where it counts – experiencing things that many of us deal with every day … Taking us completely out of our own world and into the world of the imagination are some of Australia’s best and most highly regarded writers of science fiction and fantasy … Yet other stories prove the maxim created by the writer LP Hartley in the opening line to his novel ‘The Go-Between’: ‘The past is a foreign country – they do things differently there’.

This collection also includes horror, humour and poetry.

‘Trust Me Too’ is a second collection of stories, poetry, graphic stories and illustrations from Ford Street Publishing. Stories cover all genres, and are presented in a multitude of styles: serious, light-hearted, spine-tingling and rib-tickling. Most prose stories are around 1500 words, although there is also a novelette from Isabelle Carmody that is closer to 6000 words. There is poetry too, graphic stories and illustrations. The collection is divided into categories including Adventure, Ghost, Twilight Zone, Humour and Sport. There are short creator biographies at the end.

There is something for everyone in ‘Trust Me Too’. Short stories, longer ones, and more. The collection can be read as a whole, or dipped into, story by delicious story. No matter your favourite genre, there’s a story for you. It’s also a fabulous way to ‘taste-test’ writers whose work you don’t know, or revisit those you’ve not followed lately. Pitched at upper-primary to lower-secondary readers, there is plenty here for teachers to explore in the classroom. This collection invites readers to pop in and meet new and familiar storymakers. It will also inspire them to seek out longer and other works by many of these wonderful Australian creators.

Trust Me Too

Trust Me Too, edited Paul Collins

Ford Street Publishing 2012

ISBN: 9781921665585

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com