Stay True

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

In her first short story anthology, Singer (All We Need to Say) brings together works by 11 distinguished authors, including M.E. Kerr, Rita Williams-Garcia, Norma Fox Mazer and Singer herself. Thematically related by their emphasis on learning to navigate life's tailspins through self-reliance and self-discovery, the stories are nevertheless widely diverse in style and subject. From the more predictable twist on the Cinderella story found in Anne Mazer's "The Transformations of Cindy R.," to C. Drew Lamm's eye-opening take on adolescent soul-searching in "Stay True," readers will find characters and situations, both comfortable and disturbing, that reflect their lives and concerns. More importantly, the stories depict thoughtful young women ably meeting their challenges with courage and wit. Amid a recent outpouring of volumesfiction, nonfiction and biographyaiming to encourage and inspire teen and preteen girls, Singer's collection stands out as proof of fiction's ability to create distance and to subtly alter readers' perceptions of the world. Thus, these stories will likely function for readers the way trees do for Lamm's protagonist: "I can feel them hard-stroking my brains, untangling and freeing my mind. And when I leave, I'm in place." Ages 12-up. (May)

VOYA - Kathleen Beck

It is a pity that short story collections are not more widely read, because there is some good stuff in here. These selections, by authors both well known (M.E. Kerr) and less so (C. Drew Lamm, whose story lends its title to the collection), all feature self-aware women determined to shape their own futures. Two of the most powerful come smack in the middle. In The Pale Mare, by Marian Flandrick Bray, Consuella longs to join her classmates on a weekend astronomy field trip, but her tradition-loving, Hispanic father insists she instead help with the family food van at the charreada, a Mexican-style rodeo. When a charro ropes a mare, Consuela muses, he may do so with great skill and artistry, "but the ground is hard whether the rope is tossed prettily or not." That observation will resonate with women everywhere. Immediately following is The Truth in the Case of Eliza Mary Muller by Herself, by Peni R. Griffin. A straightforward, plain-spoken, first-person account of a girl who goes to live with her married sister after their father's death, it ends with a shocker that literally made this reader gasp. Funny, poignant, thought provoking, these stories deserve promotion. Try reading Jennifer Armstrong's The Statue of Liberty Factory aloud and see if you can hook a few readers. VOYA Codes: 4Q 2P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses, For the YA with a special interest in the subject, Middle School-defined as grades 6 to 8, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).

School Library Journal

Gr 7 UpThough their experiences are varied, all of the adolescent girls in these stories endure the trials of puberty that young women everywhere share. Short chapters illustrate a wide array of themes from learning to accept oneself, and maybe Mom's new boyfriend, to love on the wrong side of the tracks and the tragedy of a teen who must face the legal and moral consequences of killing her abusive brother-in-law. Several award-winning names grace the pages of this compilation including Norma Fox Mazer, M. E. Kerr, and Rita Williams-Garcia. Author profiles, many of which include e-mail addresses, are appended. Though the main characters are all female, these selections are likely to appeal to both sexes due to their brevity and the messages that ring true for either gender. As in life, the stories are not neatly resolved; only a portion of the picture is revealed. Overall, this book is an excellent mix of light and darkness, humor and dead seriousness. It encourages readers to discover who they are and to stay true to themselves.Tammy J. Marley, Charles County Public Library, La Plata, MD

Horn

Eleven writers for young people are on comfortable ground in this solid collection of short stories about ado-lescent girls. Most of these girls sense themselves as being different-from their families, peers, or community-and while some go on to celebrate their uniqueness, others at least find a small peace. Rita Williams-Garcia's "Crazy as a Daisy" Marguerite dances partnerless to her own music, until she gets to college and takes the lead with shy Roland. In Andrea Davis Pinkney's "Building Bridges," stub-born Bebe slowly, exhaustingly wins the blessing of her stubborn grand-mother, who fears that Bebe's dreams of engineering will take her far from their Brooklyn community. The theme of empowerment is uniform, but the tone of the stories varies, from Marilyn Singer's feminist fairy tale to Peni R. Griffin's straightforward telling of a young girl who shoots and kills her sister's abusive husband. Two standouts in the collection each depict a much quieter moment of transformation. In Norma Fox Mazer's "Going Fishing," Grace's intense adolescent longings seem smothered by her large body, which she feels "defies and distorts...the image of a 'normal' girl," until one morning when she has a sudden vision, an "instant of grace," that enables her to see her place in the world. Marion de Booy Wentzien's poignant "Taking Toll" depicts a tentative friendship between fatherless Miranda and her mother's bland but achingly kind boyfriend. More successful than most thematic collections of written-to-order stories, this is a fine compilation for and about young women making their way to themselves.

Kirkus Reviews

Eleven well-known authorsþall womenþuse humor, pathos, and fantasy in a skillfully wrought panoply of short stories that resound with a "you go girl" attitude toward life. From pieces that focus on learning to look beyond surface appearances, to vignettes about being your own person, each story can be enjoyed for its entertainment value alone. However, discerning readers searching for appealing female role models will find numerous insights from writers such as M.E. Kerr, Jennifer Armstrong, Anne Mazer, and Rita Williams-Garcia about what it takes to develop a strong and unique personality. One girl takes pity on the man auditioning to become her stepfather, another dispenses with the whole Cinderella/fairy godmother routine in the name of accomplishing her life, her wayþwithout enchantment. In every story, the heroine faces her problems head on, outwilling a willful grandmother over a summer job or deciding to live large, counting the cost of staying true as a life lesson everyone must learn. It's an unambitious, often charming sampler, sure to make readers smile, think, and dream. (Fiction. 12-15)