From Publishers Weekly
As poignantly wrought as Cynthia Rylant's most recent anthology, A Couple of Kooks and Other Stories About Love , this first short story collection offers a candid glimpse of teenage relationships, as young adult narrators recount a broad range of intimate experiences. While several of the 14 selections have a romantic bent, others explore alternative forms of affection: "The Way Things Are" subtly relays a farm girl's compassion for her father's slow-witted hired hand; "The Best Side of Heaven" examines a tender bond formed between a runaway and his older traveling companion. Through conversational narrative, the tales express small yet significant revelations that characters make about themselves and the people they encounter. With enormous empathy, Brooks perceptively evokes the fragile quality of adolescent emotions while deftly unveiling truths about human nature. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
Grade 7-12-- "Some memories are so strong and sweet and sad they seem to have a life of their own." The final line from one of the selections in this collection better states their theme than any review can. Brooks' stories are tiny masterpieces, each tenderly re-creating a point in time when a person experiences a realization so powerful that he or she is changed forever. They are told from a variety of points of view, male and female, first and third person, some in retrospect from adulthood. The characters' backgrounds and situations are diverse: Johnny, a homeless boy, is "adopted" by a homeless former mental patient; Naomi spends Christmas with her grandmother and the grandmother's live-in boyfriend; Lorraine meets an enigmatic intern while working a summer job in a TB hospital; Andrew, a rich city kid, learns about friendliness from a lumbering, uncouth farmer on a bus. Brooks has a flawless feel for the strength of brevity--the longest of the 14 stories is a mere 10 pages long. Her style sings. Each selection reads just as its protagonist would speak, and her phrasing is continually delightful. An excellent read-aloud or teaching tool. --Ellen Ramsay, Amphitheater High School, Tucson, AZ
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
