Coolhunting

Steffie makes her living as a coolhunter—someone who discovers an interesting look and makes it fashion, often overnight. She's escaped her stifling upbringing, but her sister KD has not. KD, genetically altered to remain a child, asks Steffie to help her run away from home, and Steffie just might try. A Locus Award finalist, and winner of the Science Fiction Age Reader's Choice Award. "This is a fascinating and thought-provoking novella and perfectly exemplifies one of the reasons I enjoy Rusch's writing as much as I do. Her stories often unfold with a breezy, entertaining flow, leading one to expect something fuzzy and warm. Except at its heart, her fiction has a deep emotional edge that, while it might seem at odds with the storytelling style, turns out to be perfectly suited to it, paying off her readers with rich dividends." —Charles de Lint The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction