Hellish loves

After the success of "The Prom Nights," where the most important night of high school took on supernatural overtones, it's time for the sweet tortures of love to receive their fitting tribute. From the perspective of today's most important young adult authors. Scott Westerfeld (Uglies), Justine Larbalestier (Magic or Madness), Gabrielle Zevin (Elsewhere), Laurie Faria Stolarz (Blue Is for Nightmares), and Melissa Marr (Wicked Lovely) recount unconventional romances, where feelings can seem complicated, frightening, and almost impossible. But always magical. Literally. In "The Prom Nights," illusion, folklore, and ghosts—exceedingly personable—permeate stories with a touch of horror. Forget about crushing on your best friend's boyfriend, crushing on the cutest teacher, or a failed relationship. The challenges of love take on new perspectives when compared to the stories in this collection dedicated to the noblest—and most complicated—of feelings. In her fan fiction, Gabrielle Zevin tells the story of a teenager who becomes so obsessed with a love story that she believes she is the heroine of the book. Melissa Marr draws on Irish folklore to create, in "Lost in Love," a retelling of the classic fairy tale about a young woman who must escape the spell of a selkie, a creature half-man, half-seal. Sleeping with the Spirit, by Laurie Faria Stolarz, features a girl who falls in love with the ghost of a murdered boy, who visits her in her dreams. Thinner Than Water, by Justine Larbalestier, is a good example of Infernal Loves. Jeannie, a modern teenager, is forced by her family to live in a period village, where her boyfriend is tortured. The boy is part of the faeries. In the dry and intelligent "Abominable Perfect World," Scott Westerfeld portrays a futuristic society where hunger and disease have been eradicated. Young people must attend a class called "Scarcity," where they are taught what the past was like. Two students fall in love when they present symptoms of extinct afflictions, such as anxiety.