Trapped!: Cages of Mind and Body [Mass Market Paperback]

Lois Duncan (Editor), Rudy Gutierrez (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1999

TRAPPED!

Featuring original works by:

Apollo, Joan Bauer, Francesca Lia Block, Gary Crew, Lois Duncan, Lois Lowry, Gregory Maguire, Walter Dean Myers, Gillian Rubinstein, David Skinner, Marc Talbert, Rob Thomas, and Rita Williams-Garcia

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Subtitled Cages of Mind and Body, this collection of short pieces by critically acclaimed young adult writers explores the plethora of ways in which human beings can feel like trapped animals. Lois Duncan edited the collection, and in her introduction she tells readers that the theme was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," a story she still finds "resurfacing in fever dreams in hideous detail." Poe's terrifying tale is about a character being sealed alive into a crypt, but Duncan has not limited her foray into claustrophobia to horror. Humor, romance, fantasy, and adventure all make appearances here, as do a variety of literary forms, including the traditional short story; a play by Rita Williams-Garcia; an unusual dual-perspective piece by Walter Dean Myers; and poetry written by Duncan during her teenage years. Topics range from physical to emotional to mental entrapment--Francesca Lia Block writes about the shackles of anorexia, Rob Thomas explores a day of upheaval at a battered-women's shelter, and Joan Bauer takes a humorous look at a fastidious pancake-house waitress overwhelmed by a sudden Sunday morning rush. Readers will not only find the stories compelling, but are also sure to recognize the queasy sensation of being trapped. --Brangien Davis --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

What do a pair of careless campers, a frozen princess and a 13-year-old sugarcane cutter have in common? All are physically, socially or emotionally trapped, the theme of these 13 stories by mostly prominent YA authors. As Duncan (I Know What You Did Last Summer) states in a foreword, she hopes to recreate the type of powerful impression made on her as a 13-year-old by the Poe classic, "The Cask of Amontillado." The results are mixed. Some selections, like Lois Lowry's "A Matter of Getting Out," about a boy contemplating marriage instead of entering college, are too tidy to make much of an impact; few represent the individual author's best work. But some pack a one-two punch, as in Rob Thomas's "Sheep," set in a home for battered women. The sense of doom overhanging most of the protagonists here is periodically lifted by strategically placed, more humorous narratives like Joan Bauer's "Pancakes," which depicts the unraveling of a perfectionist waitress. Other contributors include Francesca Lia Block, Walter Dean Myers, Marc Talbert and Rita Garcia-Williams. Ages 12-up. (July) FYI: A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will benefit YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association of the American Library Association.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689830823
• ISBN-13: 978-0689830822
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #920,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lois Duncan was born in Philadelphia, PA, and grew up in Sarasota, FL.
She knew from early childhood that she wanted to be a writer. She submitted her first story to a magazine at age 10 and became published at 13. Throughout her high school years she wrote regularly for young people's publications, particularly Seventeen.

As an adult, Lois moved to Albuquerque, NM, where she taught magazine writing for the Journalism Department at the University of New Mexico and continued to write for magazines. Over 300 of her articles and stories appeared in such publications as Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, McCall's, Good Housekeeping, and Reader's Digest, and for many years she was a contributing editor for Woman's Day.

Lois is the author of over 50 books, ranging from children's picture books to poetry to adult non-fiction, but is best known for her young adult suspense novels, which have received Young Readers Awards in 16 states and three foreign countries. In 1992, Lois was awarded the Margaret A. Edwards Award, presented by the School Library Journal and the ALA Young Adult Library Services Association for "a distinguished body of adolescent literature." In 2009, she received the Katharine Drexel Award, awarded by the Catholic Library Association "to recognize an outstanding contribution by an individual to the growth of high school and young adult librarianship and literature."

Six of her novels -- SUMMER OF FEAR, KILLING MR. GRIFFIN, GALLOWS HILL, RANSOM, DON'T LOOK BEHIND YOU and STRANGER WITH MY FACE -- were made-for-TV movies. I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER and HOTEL FOR DOGS were box office hits.

Although young people are most familiar with Lois Duncan's fictional suspense novels, adults may know her best as the author of WHO KILLED MY DAUGHTER?, the true story of the murder of Kaitlyn Arquette, the youngest of Lois's five children. Kait's heartbreaking story has been featured on such TV shows as Unsolved Mysteries, Good Morning America, Larry King Live, Sally Jessy Raphael and Inside Edition. A full account of the family's on-going personal investigation of this still unsolved homicide can be found on the Internet at http://kaitarquette.arquettes.com.

Lois Duncan's personal web page is at http://loisduncan.arquettes.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book!, April 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Trapped: Cages of Mind and Body (Hardcover)

This book was simply wonderful. It was interesting to read the different definitions of the theme "trapped" illustrated magnificently by these extremely talented young adult authors. I loved the story "pancakes" written by Joan Baurer, and "the Woeful Princess" and "Fountain of Youth" was good too. If you're looking for a good read, you should definately buy this book. Trust me, it's worth the sixteen bucks!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Short Stories, November 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Trapped: Cages of Mind and Body (Hardcover)

If you like Lois Duncan, you will love this!! It shows a different side of everyone from all sorts of views. My personal favorite was "Pancakes" by Joan Bauer. A Must Have!!!!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Trapped... weird book, June 9, 2003

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Trapped!: Cages of Mind and Body (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a strange and demented book that will make you wonder how these stories might have come about. You have nothing to worry about if you read this book because after each short story is an author's note about why they wrote their story. The stories are about how a human can feel trapped in a cetain siuation, may it be mentally, or physically. The author of the story has something to relate to their work in their note. The psycological ways of our minds is unveiled in Trapped!. The uncomprehensible human mind is manipulated and isolated in words to show our fear and apprehension. If you read it, you might learn the ways of nature, and how humans react in a situation when they are TRAPPED!