Necessary Noise: Stories About Our Families as They Really Are [Hardcover]

Michael Cart (Author), Charlotte Noruzi (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2003

Once upon a time that was not so very long ago, a family was described as a man, a woman, and their offspring. That was what families were. These ten stories talk about families the way they really are.

Siblings coping with their younger brother's overdose. A girl terrified of her older sister's dual personality. A boy trying to adjust to his life with two mothers. A father visiting his son on death row. These are stories of today's families -- fractured, blended, at risk, non-traditional, and some that are even still nuclear.

Noted anthologist Michael Cart asked celebrated young adult authors the question "What does 'family' mean today?" The ten stories in this anthology provide some illuminating -- and sometimes surprising -- answers. Here family is defined by the connections between all kinds of people -- and the necessary noise they make.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10-These short stories by recognized young adult authors are compelling examples of contemporary literature dealing with all types of family issues. The subject material varies from Walter Dean Myers's powerful description of a father visiting his son on death row to Lois Lowry's tale of a snowbound family reacting to a visit from their college-freshman daughter and her rude, unkempt boyfriend. All of the selections deal with contemporary situations and how these characters attempt to deal with whatever "family" means in their particular experience. Some of the families are fractured idealistically, some physically; yet all must find ways of coping. The stories are tight, characters are realistic, and situations are all too familiar for today's teens. Witnessing these characters as they resolve their problems will enable students to give voice to their own "necessary noise."-Susan Cooley, formerly at Tower Hill School, Wilmington, DE
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 9-12. Some of YA fiction's best voices are collected in this anthology of 11 stories about what it means, these days, to be in a family. The definition of that experience is complicated: in Walter Dean Myers' "Visitor," it encompasses a death-row meeting between father and son. In compiler Cart's "Sailing Away," it means two boys' friendship and romantic love for one another. Teens will relate to these varying visions and see themselves in the protagonists, even though in two of the best stories the central characters aren't even high-school students. Lois Lowry's hilarious and charming "Snowbound" stars a college freshman who has brought home her ne'er-do-well "minimalist" boyfriend (who, as part of his minimalism, does not wear underwear). Norma Howe's story features two college-age siblings (one of them married). But teens won't care, because Howe gets to the very heart of sibling rivalry and the difficulties of expressing (and, for that matter, feeling) familial love. Cart's informative introduction about the evolving family sets the tone for this first-rate collection, on the leading edge of YA fiction. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen; 1 edition (June 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060274999
• ISBN-13: 978-0060274993
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,297,442 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good collection, March 10, 2006

By 

DSB - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Necessary Noise: Stories About Our Families as They Really Are (Paperback)

I picked up Necessary Noise while standing in a local bookstore and starting reading the story, "The Visit" by Walter Dean Meyers. In fact, I read most of it, and then rushed home to order it from Amazon. Yes, it's a sad story, but it appeals to most of my students. I teach in a low socio-economic urban school district in south Texas. Unfortunately, the majority of my students have experience with a relative being in jail and/or prison. I put the book out for SSR time with a recommendation that "The Visit" is an outstanding story. By the end of the week, so many of my 9th grade students had read the story that they asked if we could have a book circle discussion of it. It's hard to believe, but my students really thought they hated reading back in August. I have finally conviced them that when you find the right book or story, reading is one of the greatest pleasures in life.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Necessary Noise, February 3, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Necessary Noise: Stories About Our Families as They Really Are (Hardcover)

What is normal when it comes to families? Our society likes to picture families as functional and unbroken units that ideally consist of a mother and father {married}, with a certain number of children. Although what society would like to see and what is realistic is very different. The eye-opening novel, Necessary Noise, edited by Michael Cart, shows todays' families as they really are. In the ten young adult stories, a variety of characters deal with their fractured and dysfunctional families, whether they be their entire community or very best friend. Among the accomplished writers in this book are Lois Lowry, whose story Snowbound proves a laugh-out-loud tale about a relatively normal family that is astounded when their once preppy college daughter, comes home with her grotesque and lazy boyfriend who seems to have turned them into non-mammal eating hippies {vegetarians.} Walter Dean Meyers' chronicle Visit is a depressing story about a fathers' visit to his son on death row. This heartfelt story follows their last conversations, final memories, and feelings of deep guilt and shame. Personally, I found this book too splendidly truthful to resist. Therefore, I couldn't help but devour the pages one moving story at a time. Through evey volume a feel of realism shone bright, as did the emotions of hate, love, and confusion. Consider picking up this extraordinary novel for a closer look at families in a whole new manner.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These stories are important to everyone., July 26, 2004

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Necessary Noise: Stories About Our Families as They Really Are (Hardcover)

Fifty years ago, unconventional families were ignored. The media liked to pretend that the only families that existed consisted of two parents, two kids, a dog, and a house with a white picket fence. Today, we know about and see all kinds of families, from those with two mothers to those where the kids have to run the house.

Ten of the best authors in teen literature have contributed stories on families that run from the caring to the dysfunctional. Walter Dean Myers writes about a father who visits his son on death row. Emma Donoghue never shows the parents of her story's streetwise characters, but their presence is felt. In the verse style of WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW, Sonya Sones writes about a sister with a scary dual personality. Love, rivalry and devotion are shown in many ways --- between mothers, fathers, children, brothers, and sisters.

If you only have ten minutes here or there to catch a quick read, NECESSARY NOISE is the perfect choice for you. All of the stories are easy to read, but none of them are superficial. The clean, talented writing and range of emotion and styles will give you plenty to think about. It doesn't matter what kind of family you have, because the themes that run through these stories are important to everyone.

--- Reviewed by Carlie Kraft