Fishing for Chickens: Short Stories about Rural Youth [Paperback]

Jim Heynen (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2001

In this unique collection, sixteen writers, both established and new, take us to the back woods, farmlands, mountains, and coastal regions of the U.S. -- and into the lives of young people who are growing up there. Neither sentimental nor nostalgic, their richly plotted and poignant stories dispel the myth of the country idyll to reveal the tough realities of a rural childhood, as well as its rewards.

In Rebecca Rule's "Walking the Trapline", a routine trek with her father and brother into the frigid New England woods becomes a test of survival for a young girl. "Sugar Among the Chickens" by Lewis Nordan, a comic tale, features a bored farm boy in Mississippi intent on catching a big rooster with a baited fishing line. When a flock of geese escapes the hunters' guns in North Carolinian writer Tony Earley's "Aliceville", a boy's disappointment is replaced by wonder as he realizes that their breathtaking passage overhead "made our world less small".

The authors included are Pinckney Benedict, Nancy Brown, Nora Dauenhauer, Tony Earley, Eric Gansworth, Jim Heynen, Lewis Nordan, Tomas Rivera, Rebecca Rule, Wallace Stegner, Kathleen Tyau, Alma Villanueva, Jon Volkmer, Alice Walker, Vicky Wicks, and Hisaye Yamamoto.

Whether rural native or lifelong urban dweller, every reader will come away from this collection with a deeper appreciation of the influence of place upon individual growth and of the special qualities of a country upbringing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his introduction, Heynen states: "I may not know everything about growing up rural, but I know rural folks have scars." This anthology of 17 stories set in country landscapes depicts not only physical scars but also injured or hardened spirits. Tim, the 12-year-old star of Jon Volkmer's "The Elevator Man," works on a grain elevator with deadly milo dust every day, while his mother lies in a hospital dying of cancer. The female narrator of "Burn Pile" by Nancy K. Brown helps her family incinerate the wreckage from a windstorm, but she allows the fire to get out of hand while tending a baby bird. Some of the most heartwrenching selections focus on relationships between protagonists and animals. In Vicky Wick's "I Have the Serpent Brought," a girl's dream of making pets out of a pair of fox cubs is dashed when her father decides that the animals are a potential threat to his chickens and shoots them. Similarly, in Wallace Stegner's "The Colt," a boy's desire to nurse a maimed colt back to health comes to a disastrous end when its wounds do not heal. While tragedies permeate the volume, there are also moments of celebration and growth as children become strengthened by the hardships they face. Readers who have experienced farm life first hand will best relate to the characters, but all will be touched by the cast's internal and external struggles. Ages 12-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up-A collection of stories that captures the richness of a varied American landscape. Some settings, such as a bitterly cold New England woods, a southern farm, and a ranch, are predictable and familiar; others carry readers to unexpected destinations and new worlds of experience: the Alaskan coastline, a Hawaiian pineapple cannery, and an Indian reservation. Each protagonist is a young person learning lessons of life particular to the country. "You gotta' have guts, skill, and smarts livin' in the country," Meg's father tells her in Nancy Brown's "Burn Pile." What binds the stories together is the strong connection the main characters have with the natural world. Given the playful, perhaps misleading, title, readers may be surprised that, with few exceptions, the stories are somber, sometimes violent, reflecting real experiences of young people. The cover illustration, however, foreshadows serious themes, with a brightly colored rooster about to chomp down on a fishing hook. Some authors are well known-Wallace Stegner ("The Colt") and Alice Walker ("The Flowers"). Most, however, are new, representing many different ethnic and racial groups: Tlingit, Mexican, Chicano, Japanese-American, African American. Heynen includes two of his own masterful stories. "What Happened During the Ice Storm" is an image-rich, two-page story about boys who feel unexpected pity for helpless pheasants and are moved to rescue rather than torment or hurt them. This is an important collection of previously published short stories brought together to develop a theme from diverse points of view. It breaks many of the stereotypes about what it means to grow up in rural America. Without exception, the stories are strong.
Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Persea Books; 1 edition (July 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892552654
• ISBN-13: 978-0892552658
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,028,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)