From Publishers Weekly
Lloyd captures the simultaneously singular and universal conflicts in the lives of adolescent boys in a collection of stories set in upstate New York in 1966. In spare, direct prose, Lloyd depicts scenes that frequently skirt the edge of danger, both social and physical. In "No Boundaries," a smaller boy must face an athletic older rival in a seemingly innocent game of dodge ball ("I had become one of those flies you can't swat no matter how fast you swing your hand"). "Spider" follows a similar thread, pitting a star high school wrestler against a talented but lackadaisical teammate in a practice match that turns violent. In "Shortcut," "Touch" and "Stain," Lloyd economically but poignantly explores the ramifications of a class bully's behavior for a teacher, the victim and the vice principal. Lloyd lightens upâ€"for a bit, anywayâ€"in "As Always, Jason," in which a boy passes informational notes to his classmates ("Actaeon was torn to pieces by his own dogs"; "The Manx cat has no tail") for his own private reasons. Lloyd's novella, "Boys Only," tracks 13-year-old Chris as he tries to come to grips with his first love, the shifting dynamic of the three-boy gang he belongs to and the changes in his teenage sister as she begins dating. The novella, which lacks the stories' sharp, close focus on a single situation, is less successful, as Lloyd doesn't always sufficiently connect the narrative dots. But these quiet, sometimes chilling stories remind us of childhood's unique travails and prove Lloyd to be a writer with unique insight into that world.
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"The first time I saw someone get kicked in the face was by the steps leading to the front doors of my school," says 13-year-old Chris, narrator of the novella
Boys Only, which appears, along with 12 additional stories, in this fiction collection that bears witness to the brutalities and discoveries of adolescence. Set in 1960s upstate New York, the novella follows Chris through the unsettling limbo of early adolescence, in which he constructs "boys-only" tree houses yet has also discovered porn as well as a maturing view of his own family. The 12 stories that make up "On Monday" focus on different characters during a 24-hour period at a high school. Lloyd often writes with a teen's precise detachment, and his shifting perspectives, including some adult viewpoints, reexamine traditional school roles of bully, victim, eccentric, jock, and "the slow one." Sharply observed, these are stories filled with scenes both mundane and shocking that capture those strange, private moments of shame, fear, pride, and creativity--moments that become the secrets we rarely tell. A memorable debut.
Gillian EngbergCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
