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The Girl with Blueberry Eyes
Lisa says:
Some stories start with a vivid mental image. In this case, many thanks to my friend Kate, who said chandeliers should grow peaches... (2007)
Appears in Fantasy Magazine, Issue 6
and now also online at Fantasy Magazine
For your viewing pleasure, an illustration of Vera Violetta
by the lovely and talented Amanda Mitchell
Reviews:
A smart fantasia.
Rich Horton for Locus.
*
A vivid, imaginative fantasy infused with magical fruit, jam, and woodland imagery. Vera Violetta is a lovely, vulnerable heroine and the author plays dramatically on the awful experience of being a child who does not fit in with the crowd. This is a truly original modern fairytale, and that is a very rare thing.Tansy Roberts for Not If You Were the Last Short Story On Earth
*
I was first impressed by the incredibly fun ideas in this story (my favourite being the apple grown on Vera’s bedside lamp, which like its “tree” is striped red and white), then by its timeless and well-rendered moral wrapped up in a fitting and unobvious conclusion. A successful piece on more than one level.
Alex Dally MacFarlane for Tangent Online
*
Mantchev's world is weirdly enchanting, an imaginative mix of fairy tales and charming absurdities, and her story is a nice variation on the old standard.
Lois Tilton for the Internet Review of Science Fiction*
Cited in Rich Horton's Summary for Fantasy Magazine, 2007
*
Listed on Rich Horton's short story Recommended Reading List, Virtual Best of the Year, 2007.
Excerpt:
"I brought an apple for you, Teacher." Vera Violetta had grown it on her bedside lamp and picked it just that morning.
Teacher accepted it with a puzzled look.
"It's not everyday you see a striped apple," she said, which was true. But the shade on the bedside lamp had stripes, so the apple was striped red and white, just like a stick of penny candy.
"I glued the dew to it myself," Vera said. It was tricky, getting the silver-white rhinestones to stick, but she'd managed it.