by Aimee Bender
First published 2005
In Aimee Bender's Willful Creatures, the ordinary collides with the extraordinary. A woman's children are potatoes. A boy with an iron for a head is born into a family of pumpkin heads. A young man with keys for fingers discovers an unexpected heroism. Through these surreal, musical tales, Bender illuminates the authentic love and emotional truths that lie beneath the surface of the fantastical.
Genres: short-stories, literary-fiction, fantasy, contemporary, magical-realism
Vibes: emotional, intimate, lyrical, whimsical
Tropes: found-family, magical-realism
Period: 21st-Century
224 pages · Paperback · Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group