Very quirky, bizarre collection of short stories supposedly set in suburbia, but it's really an alternate take on life in the suburbs. The book has an altered book sort of feel, with some of the illustrations looking like an altered book or a collage. The illustrations are just exquisite. The stories themselves have what I call open endings, where the reader would naturally think, 'what's next.' The plots are equally bizarre for most of the stories.

My thought as I read this book was that it would make a great creative writing vehicle for MS-HS classes. Tan's imagination has clearly gone into overdrive, and one could use this book to help students get theirs going. The first story begins with a question. You could use the same question for a writing exercise, and see what develops. Or have the kids continue the story. Or something else.

I particularly like the story about a couple getting married. There's a deep and universal theme in it, and it would be interesting to see if any high school student could detect it.

Maybe I liked this book so much because I have zero talent in this kind of thing, and I always admire those whose imaginations are alive, well, and active.