A collection of eclectic short stories by contemporary YA authors that address the theme of being trapped, literally or metaphorically. The resulting dozen tales are as varied as the contributors, ranging from David Skinner’s modern fairy tale about a princess frozen in a block of ice to Gary Crew’s eerie glimpse of a Vietnam veteran trapped within his own mind. Marc Talbert’s characters are physically trapped by a forest fire, then morally trapped when they realize they are responsible for the blaze. Should they tell? Walter Dean Myers’s contribution appears in two columns on the page, one recounting a young man’s conversation with his psychiatrist, the other revealing a very different narrative inside his mind. Francesca Lia Block explores the trap of anorexia and Rita Williams-Garcia pens a short play about a drive-by shooting. On the lighter side, Joan Bauer’s heroine, a perfectionist-waitress, comes unraveled trying to satisfy a Sunday morning crowd of pancake eaters all by herself. At the height of the frenzy she stands on a counter and shouts, “We’re out of sausage and it’s not my fault!” Although the theme provokes occasional forced or heavy-handed moments, this is a strong collection, thought-provoking and well worth reading. (Short stories. 12-14)
Pub Date: July 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81335-X
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1998
The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes...
In a riveting novel from Myers (At Her Majesty’s Request, 1999, etc.), a teenager who dreams of being a filmmaker writes the story of his trial for felony murder in the form of a movie script, with journal entries after each day’s action.
Steve is accused of being an accomplice in the robbery and murder of a drug store owner. As he goes through his trial, returning each night to a prison where most nights he can hear other inmates being beaten and raped, he reviews the events leading to this point in his life. Although Steve is eventually acquitted, Myers leaves it up to readers to decide for themselves on his protagonist’s guilt or innocence.
The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes written entirely in dialogue alternate with thoughtful, introspective journal entries that offer a sense of Steve’s terror and confusion, and that deftly demonstrate Myers’s point: the road from innocence to trouble is comprised of small, almost invisible steps, each involving an experience in which a “positive moral decision” was not made. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: May 31, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-028077-8
Page Count: 280
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999
In an unnamed country (a thinly veiled Philippines), three teenage boys pick trash for a meager living. A bag of cash in the trash might be—well, not their ticket out of poverty but at least a minor windfall. With 1,100 pesos, maybe they can eat chicken occasionally, instead of just rice. Gardo and Raphael are determined not to give any of it to the police who've been sniffing around, so they enlist their friend Rat. In alternating and tightly paced points of view, supplemented by occasional other voices, the boys relate the intrigue in which they're quickly enmeshed. A murdered houseboy, an orphaned girl, a treasure map, a secret code, corrupt politicians and 10,000,000 missing dollars: It all adds up to a cracker of a thriller. Sadly, the setting relies on Third World poverty tourism for its flavor, as if this otherwise enjoyable caper were being told by Olivia, the story's British charity worker who muses with vacuous sentimentality on the children that "break your heart" and "change your life." Nevertheless, a zippy and classic briefcase-full-of-money thrill ride. (Thriller. 12-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-385-75214-5
Page Count: 240
Publisher: David Fickling/Random
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010
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