* Philip K. Dick Award Winner * Best of the Year: Locus, Village Voice, San Francisco Chronicle, Book Magazine * Nominated for the Impac Award Charley is an athlete. He wants to grow up to be the fastest runner in the world, like his father. He wants to be painted crossing the finishing line, in his racing silks, with a medal around his neck. Charley lives in a stable. He isn't a runner, he's a mount. He belongs to a Hoot: The Hoots are alien invaders. Charley hasn't seen his mother for years, and his father is hiding out in the mountains somewhere, with the other Free Humans. The Hoots own the world, but the humans want it back. Charley knows how to be a good mount, but now he's going to have to learn how to be a human being.

Shapeshifting stories by Tanith Lee, Peter S. Beagle, Midori Snyder, Jane Yolen, and others: “Rich reading that meets the editors’ high standards.” —Kirkus Reviews In world mythology, transformation legends are attached to almost every type of animal: a variety of birds, fish, reptiles, and even insects. In this book, you’ll find stories inspired by such myths from around the world, retold and reimagined by some of the very best writers in the realm of fantasy and science fiction. In “The Puma’s Daughter” by World Fantasy Award–winning author Tanith Lee, a boy betrothed to a girl from a powerful family in the hills hears whispered rumors about his intended that describe her golden hair, her strength—and her ability to transform into a great cat. A man brings his boyfriend to his conservative hometown, teaching his little sister a lot about acceptance—and mermen—in “Map of Seventeen” by Stonewall Honor Award–author Christopher Barzak. And in “The Hikikomori” by Hiromi Goto, winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, a misfit fifteen-year-old girl, bullied at school, discovers her true form—and heroic purpose. “Twenty-two short stories and poems speak to the fascination with therianthropy (animal-human metamorphosis). From riffs on Beauty and the Beast to original tales of sexuality and an adolescent yeti, well-known fantasy and sci-fi authors create morsels that address themes as varied as coming-of-age and the environment—all while changing people into animals and vice versa.” —Booklist “This collection will appeal to fantasy lovers as it provides both stories by beloved authors and exciting new voices to discover.” —School Library Journal “A top-to-bottom very readable, engaging, book.” —SF Site

I Live With You is a sophisticated collection of fierce, compassionate fiction marked by an absurdist sense of humor. A contemporary of Jorge Luis Borges, Italo Calvino, and Fay Weldon, Carol Emshwiller has been lauded for her originality and lyricism. These striking short stories skillfully explore themes of war, seduction, and censorship: An Eden emerges from the wreckage of burning books in “The Library,” “Boys” sets a weary general and his sons against a village of determined mothers, and “I Live With You (and You Don’t Know It)” brings a necessary chaos from an uninvited guest.

Eighteen stories deal with alien worlds, extraterrestrial invaders, crossbreeds, animals, and lonely city-dwellers.

The Secret City is a proud enclave carved in stone. Hidden high in a mountain range, it is a worn citadel protecting a lost culture. It harbors a handful of aliens stranded on Earth, waiting for rescue and running out of time. Over years of increasing poverty, an exodus to the human world has become their only chance for survival. The aliens are gradually assimilating not as a discrete culture but as a source of cheap labor. But the sudden arrival of ill-prepared rescuers will touch off divided loyalties, violent displacement, and star-crossed love. As unlikely human allies are pitted against xenophobic aliens, the stage is set for a final standoff at the Secret City.

Bobby Lassiter has some important secrets—but it’s not as if anyone’s paying attention. It’s the middle of the Depression, and while Bobby’s mother and older sister knit all day to make money, Bobby explores the California desert around their home. That’s how Bobby finds Boots. He’s under their one half-dead tree, halfdead himself. Right away he’s a secret, too—a secret to be fed and clothed and taken care of, and even more of a secret because of what he can do. Sometimes Boots is a man. Sometimes he’s (really, truly) a horse. He and Bobby both know something about magic—and those who read this book will, too. “A wonderful story about a man who is a horse, and a boy who is a girl—about fake magic and real love—about deaths that are part of living and the pain that pays for joy. I love it.”—Ursula K. Le Guin

“Combines the cruel humor of Candide with the allegorical panache of Animal Farm.”—Entertainment Weekly "Carol is the most unappreciated great writer we've got. Carmen Dog ought to be a classic in the colleges by now . . . It's so funny, and it's so keen." —Ursula K. Le Guin “A rollicking outre satire.... full of comic leaps and absurdist genius.”—Bitch “A wise and funny book.”—The New York Times "This trenchant feminist fantasy-satire mixes elements of Animal Farm, Rhinoceros and The Handmaid's Tale.... Imagination and absurdist humor mark [Carmen Dog] throughout, and Emshwiller is engaging even when most savage about male-female relationships."—Booklist "Her fantastic premise allows Emshwiller canny and frequently hilarious insights into the damaging sex-role stereotypes both men and women perpetuate." —Publishers Weekly The debut title in our Peapod Classics line, Carol Emshwiller’s genre-jumping debut novel is a dangerous, sharp-eyed look at men, women, and the world we live in. Everything is changing: women are turning into animals, and animals are turning into women. Pooch, a golden setter, is turning into a beautiful woman—although she still has some of her canine traits: she just can't shuck that loyalty thing—and her former owner has turned into a snapping turtle. When the turtle tries to take a bite of her own baby, Pooch snatches the baby and runs. Meanwhile, there's a dangerous wolverine on the loose, men are desperately trying to figure out what's going on, and Pooch discovers what she really wants: to sing Carmen. Carmen Dog is the funny feminist classic that inspired writers Pat Murphy and Karen Joy Fowler to create the James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award.

Stories ranging from surreal adventure to hilarious satire. "A bitter, funny reply to that national magazine that declares that feminism itself is 'dated.'"--Carolyn See, Los Angeles Times

"A sweet and true and heartbreaking (story), echoing with the actualities of our old horseback life in the American West".--William Kittredge.