Book Reviews and More: The Underappreciated Virtues of Rusty Old Bicycles - Corinna Turner

Thursday 13 February 2020

The Underappreciated Virtues of Rusty Old Bicycles - Corinna Turner - An I Am Margaret Story

The Underappreciated Virtues of Rusty Old Bicycles
I Am Margaret A Prequel Short Story
Corinna Turner
UnSeen Books an Imprint of
Zephyr Publishing
ASIN B083D4BBRZ

I loved the books, novellas and short stories set in the ‘I Am Margaret’ universe. It is currently comprised of 5 novels, one journal, 6 short stories, and a novella. This story first appears in the anthology Secrets: Visible & Invisible 7 Amazing Stories from Catholic Teen Books. But when the stand-alone short story was published I picked it up and read it again. And in many ways it is different reading it as a separate story, as opposed to reading it as the first in a collection of 8 stories.

I want back and when it appeared in an anthology I had a short note on it:

“This story is a peek at Bane and Margo before the sorting in I am Margaret. It highlights the strength of their friendship. The risks in day to day life in a totalitarian regime. It also has some great characters that we do not encounter again in the books. There is a very interesting twist in this story.”

This story is well written. Often when short stories are written that tie into long series, either before or between books, they require some knowledge of the characters and the universe. That is not the case with this story. It is written in such a way that it can be picked up and read on it’s own. If someone was unfamiliar with the I am Margaret books and stumbled across this volume, it could serve as an introduction to two of our main characters and I am certain would leave the reader wanting more. And with this edition you get the first two chapters of the first novel in the series and samples of some of Turner’s other writings.

The story also has a dedicated cover. And the whole series has been rebranded with new covers. To be honest, I really appreciate the original covers, the word clouds on them and the importance of words and word smithy to the series really worked for me. This story is an excellent addition to the world of the I am Margaret books. If you are a fan of the series and have not read it, I encourage you to pick it up. And if you want a short story as an introduction to the series or the works of turner, this is a great place to begin. A great story set in a dark future.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2020 Catholic Reading Plan!