WHEN WE WERE HARDCORE

Michel-Cassidy charts life’s changes in this collection of short stories.

The 11 stories in this collection share a common trajectory—they all center around engaging moments, swinging between humorous and dramatic, that shift the characters’ lives. In “As Happy As I Could Remember,” an unnamed narrator is ditched by her cousin during a road trip and befriends an eccentric group who adopt her into their off-grid lifestyle. As she struggles to figure out her future, another member of the party searches for her missing brother. The arguably funniest entry, “Lesson Plan,” acts as a parody of Donald Barthelme’s “The School”; instead of classroom animals with short lifespans, teacher Eliza deals with pets that just won’t die. The problem is, the principal wants her to give her kindergarteners the “death talk,” and she has no dead rodent to help. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the two strongest stories are more sentimental: “Like Salmon on Their Way Home” is a beautiful and moving tale about siblings Luanne and her younger brother Fred connecting after their father dies; “Soon It Will Be Summer,” which acts as the book’s conclusion, takes place in a small ski town and focuses on Ezra, a genius student and lift-operator who was raised by his older sister in a run-down trailer. (“I measured my childhood by the difference in color between what was under the poster and the rest of the wall.”) His situation is complicated when his sister becomes pregnant, thwarting his plans of going to college and making something of himself. The prose shines throughout, but some of the stories can feel flat in comparison to others. Even so, the collection is full of heart, and every character feels vibrantly alive and relatable.

A sometimes-touching, sometimes-humorous look at the human condition.