Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters (by Patricia McKissack)

The best thing about this delightful and often hilarious series of tall tales is the setting. The days of sitting around on a hot porch at night, sipping lemonade and swapping stories, seem so distant now -- a precious part of our common culture that's vanishing under the onslaught of media, air conditioning, and loss of community.

The stories in PORCH LIES: TALES OF SLICKSTERS, TRICKSTERS, AND OTHER WILY CHARACTERS are about our neighbors -- ordinary people we can recognize, every one of them likable and charming, in relatively modern settings. They imbue the everyday with humor, magic, and mystery and could be the inspiration for a few readers to try their hand at creating tall tales out of everyday life. The collection is marred only by the artwork. The drawings are so weirdly stylized and caricatured that, though some may find them funny, others may find them a shade too close to a minstrel show for comfort.