“Calamity Juice” by Carlos Hernandez
Sal Vidón and Gabi Reál are walking down the hallway of Culeco Academy when they cannot help but notice and comment upon a particularly foul odor. Attired in trench coats, they find that it is just a matter of time before the smell overwhelms them to the point of sickness. Upon discovering the hallway is layered in the mushy badness produced by a rainbow, they realize they have fallen through the floor and landed in an alternate universe and before they know it they are off and running after rogue classmates atop a unicorn and dealing with the mystifying realities of a “chicken universe.”
“Beware the Grove of True Love” by Roshani Chokshi
The protagonist of Chokshi’s series of novels about Aru Shah joins with ever-loyal companions Mini and Brynne and finds themselves charged with a task that is intended to correct a mistake in the past. Entering into the Night Bazaar in the crazy quilt Otherworld of a multiverse, they must return anklet bells known as kangaroos to the magical entity that is not at all crazy about people messing with her stuff.
“The Cave of Doom” by J.C. Cervantes
The narrator-hero of Cervantes’ Storm Runner trilogy, Zane Obispo, joins with main squeeze Brooks to check up on reports of a monster threatening an island that, admittedly, has been known to mess with peoples’ minds. While the monster turns out to be a real threat, the real meat of the matter is the interaction between these two co-protagonists with a solid enough history behind them to make such a relationship worthy of contextual footing.
“The Gum Baby Files” by Kwame Mbalia
For some reason, this story seems to be the realization of an original plan that somehow failed to come off as expected. The whole concept of the collection seems to have been to give the writers of popular books published under the Rick Riordan Presents imprint the opportunity to stretch the bonds of the universes they have created to explore less well-mapped geography. Malia successfully pulls this off by telling a story that takes place between the second and third of his Tristan Strong novels which focuses not on his hero, but a supporting character from those books called Gum Baby. The plot revolves around the title character being pitted against a ghost with the ambition to erase history as we know it.
“Bruto and the Freaky Flower” by Taylor Kay Mejia
Paolo Santiago is the titular protagonist of Mejia’s series of novels and in this short story is worried about the condition of her Chupacabra puppy, Bruto. Pao, as she is more commonly known, is certain a patch of freaky flowers is just the medicine Bruto needs since she saw the patch in a vision. This story is closer to what Mbalia does with Gum Baby, but doesn’t commit to the bit with equal ruthlessness since Pao is still a big part of the tale. Still, elevating Bruto to the centerpiece of the plot is another indication that this collection may be the result of an original idea that wasn’t quite pulled off.
“My Night at the Gifted Carnival” by Graci Kim
The story which, despite its title, gives the collection its title (and the only story in the collection to feature a carnival) features the non-biological sisters who act as twin protagonists in Kim’s Gifted Clans series of novels about witchcraft. The Gifted Carnival allows magic to be performed openly in front of params (those who cannot do magic) and all seems to be going pretty cool on this front when a ghost with the powers to freeze kids suddenly turns it into a cursed carnival. Who can save the day? Chances are it will be Hattie Oh and her salam sister, Riley.
