Welcome to The Princess Who Saved Herself, a children's book written by comics writer Greg Pak, based on the beloved song by internet superstar musician Jonathan Coulton, and illustrated by artist Takeshi Miyazawa. The Princess Who Saved Herself reinvents the princess myth for a new generation, telling the story of an awesome kid who lives with her pet snake and plays rock 'n' roll all day to the huge annoyance of the classical guitarist witch who lives down the road. Hijinks, conflicts, and a fun reconciliation ensues! Based on the beloved song by internet superstar musician Jonathan Coulton, the new New York Times best-selling team of writer Greg Pak and artist Takeshi Miyazawa reunite for an unforgettable adventure full of determination, bravery, and compassion for everyone!

Anyone who grooved to the counterculture vibe of Doctorow's young-adult novels Little Brother (2008) and For the Win (2010) will embrace these stories heartily-no one can dole out technological cautionary tales while simultaneously celebrating technology as cunningly as Doctorow. This volume's single never-before-published story, "Epoch," is the standout, an ethically thorny but heartfelt update on the classic sf conceit of an AI that becomes too self-aware. Never one to avoid the jugular, Doctorow doesn't bother to assign Google an alias in "Scroogled"; the depiction of a world where we're all "Googlestalked" until we're "guilty of something" feels chillingly immediate. It's not always easy to warm up to Doctorow's purposeful characters, but it's easy to be swept up in their just-barely-futuristic travails of surveillance gone wrong and privacy shattered. Reading this on your iPhone? Then these stories are probably for you. -- Booklist