From School Library Journal
YA-- Readers have many reasons to welcome this unusual anthology featuring the first-published efforts of new authors. The stories are of outstanding quality, comparable to those chosen for well-established annual "best" short story collections, but the bonus material is what makes this collection especially noteworthy: the authors discuss the genesis of their stories, and editors explain why they selected each story for publication and why certain changes were made. These rare glimpses into the world of publishing will interest aspiring writers as well as general readers. Although varied in theme and style, all of the stories follow traditional narrative form. In Amy Lippman's "Private Lies," a young woman looks back on her parents' divorce from the viewpoint of her own adulthood and begins to understand what happened. In "Among the Righteous," David Nicholson studies patterns of rebellion and growth in the lives of a black, unemployed father and his 13-year-old son. In "What Men Love For," by Dale Ray Phillips, the son of a manic-depressive mother and his father share the keen edge of their love and despair for this often-maddening woman during thrilling nighttime motorcycle rambles. Most provoking in theme and language is the raw, chilling "Babies," by Abraham Rodriquez, which presents the harsh realities of life for pregnant, heroin-addicted teenage girls in the South Bronx. Intensely alive, brimming with revelations, these stories proclaim the arrival of uncommon new talent.
- Keddy Outlaw, Harris County Public Library, Houston
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Keddy Outlaw, Harris County Public Library, Houston
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
