Showing results by author "Debbie Urbanski" in All Categories

Winner of the 2025 ASLE Creative Writing Book Award and the CNY Book Award for Fiction A Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Engadget, Strange Horizons, and Booklist Best Book of the Year A Climate Reality Project Book Club Pick An “intelligent, defiant” (San Francisco Chronicle)...

Debbie Urbanski wields sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and realism to build a dark mirror that she holds up to the ordinary world. Within the sharply imagined landscape of this collection, portals appear in linen closets, planetary gateways materialize in boarding schools, monsters wait in bathroom vents, and transformations of women’s bodies are an everyday occurrence. Political division causes physical rifts that break apart the Earth’s crust. A son on another planet sends dispatches home to the mother who failed him, and a wife turns to the supernatural to escape her abusive marriage.

Enjoy this collection of magical short stories about dragons. In "When Dragon Shrank", hear an enchanting story of the friendship between Dragon and Red Squirrel, who swap sizes for a day. They experience one another's worlds and learn to appreciate themselves just the way they are. Also included are four other dragon stories: "Sir Thomas and the Dragon", "Too Many Dragons", "There Goes the Neighborhood", and "Mae and the Dragon."

After you find an ancient map on your bookcase—check again, it's definitely there—you're taken on a mysterious quest in the dark. What is the map leading you to? Are you ready for an adventure?

When the exterminator gets called, Charlie races off to a magical world looking for help from his friend to save the stinkbugs in his house. Together they must convince the boy’s parents that the stinkbugs aren’t pests; in fact, they are pretty nice to have around. Convincing his parents will not be easy. Will the friends be able to save the stinkbugs in time?

A story about two moms and their two children, Edun and Will, going on a hiking and camping trip in the mountains. At first, grump Edun doesn't want to hike, but she comes to love the imagination and wonder of the outdoors. She discovers animal tracks, rocks, and trees, and then takes a drink of water from a glacier.

There are too many dragons in Skoki's world for her liking. Luckily, she meets a new friend who introduces her to a different creature.