Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
Swan Sister
Ellen Datlow · 2012
75/100
👍 Worth It
An all-star contributor list — Gaiman, Yolen, Tanith Lee — guarantees that the highs are genuinely high, and the emotional range across thirteen stories is impressive for an anthology aimed at younger readers. Parents should know the Bluebeard retelling involves wife-murder and one story features infant death, so this is best suited to confident readers around 12 and up rather than the youngest end of middle grade.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety72
Substance / usefulness78
Craft & writing80
Originality82
Evidence & accuracy80
Hype vs delivers76
Age-fit68
👁 Human-eye gut-check76
Penny’s verdict75
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