Crow Roads

By Charles de Lint

Short story Crow Roads first appeared in The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales, edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, Viking, 2007

Set outside of Newford in 1967, Annie lives in Tartown with the rest of the poor kids. When a handsome, longhaired hippie shows up outside Ernie's Poolroom, Annie is smitten by his exotic good looks and long black hair. The local boys just want to beat him up, but before they can, the stranger suggests an irresistible contest, which reveals that he may be even more mysterious than he appears.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charles de Lint
• Release date: Apr 28, 2012
• ISBN: 9780920623152

Charles de Lint

Charles de Lint and his wife, the artist MaryAnn Harris, live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. His evocative novels, including Moonheart, Forests of the Heart, and The Onion Girl, have earned him a devoted following and critical acclaim as a master of contemporary magical fiction in the manner of storytellers like John Crowley, Jonathan Carroll, Alice Hoffman, Ray Bradbury, and Isabel Allende.

Book preview

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Reviews for Crow Roads

[tadad_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Typical...enjoyable....de Lint.

[liscarey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's 1967, and Annie is a teenager living in Tartown, outside Newford, a tough area where everyone is poor. One afternoon after school, she's hanging out at the laundromat with a friend, when a very handsome, unusual young man shows up outside Ernie's pool room. His good looks, long black hair, and general hippie look makes him seem an easy target for the local tough boys--and it doesn't turn out the way they expect.Annie winds up spending the afternoon with him, and tries to get a name out of him, other than "Buddy," that the leader of the tough guys gave him. He says he doesn't have a name, unless she wants to give him one.And as they talk, she has to make a choice, about going with him on the Crow Roads, or sticking with her own dream, of going to university and proving that even a girl from Tartown can do something meaningful in the world.It's a short story about thought, feelings, values--and whether one choice really excludes all the others.Recommended.I bought this short story.