RUSH HOUR: FACE

Cart combines short stories, photographs, nonfiction essays, drawings, poems and one graphic story in this edgy and eclectic third installment of his series of literary journals—this one focused on the ambiguous topic of “face.” Several contributions interpret the theme literally: Kelly Milner Halls’s piece about piercing and body modification sheds light on why so many teens choose to alter their faces; in “Turning Japanese,” David Woo portrays a Korean character mistakenly assumed to be Japanese simply because of his appearance. Some contributions are about characters facing difficult circumstances: Pat Hughes’s “Open Ice” features an injured athlete unwilling to face a life without hockey, while Eric Shanower’s graphic story “Behind the Lines” illustrates a mother reluctant to face the aging process. Other interpretations of the topic include saving face, coming face-to-face with challenges, and being two-faced. Each piece is excellent, but the many different portrayals of such a nebulous theme result in a thread that teens may have trouble following. Older, more sophisticated readers, however, will appreciate the first-rate writing. Fresh and innovative. (Anthology. YA)