To Be Continued… by Michele Karlsberg; Karen X. Tulchinsky

Although the concept of To Be Continued sounds gimmicky--lesbian-authored stories with intentionally suspenseful endings, to be completed in a sequel published a year later--most of the pieces included are surprisingly satisfying and self-contained. In Cecilia Tan's slow and lyrical 'Dragon's Daughter,' a restless Chinese American adolescent finds a magical route to the China of her dreams. In Carla Trujillo's 'Huevos Rancheros,' two unhappy children tie up and gag their drunken father and try to make him promise to be nicer. Although the children have a knife poised over Daddy's crotch when the story ends, readers can reach their own violent or whimsical conclusions. --Regina Marler