Stay True : Short Stories for Strong Girls

ISBN 10: 0613178645 ISBN 13: 9780613178648

Publisher: Bt Bound

Synopsis

A collection of short stories by various authors, including Andrea Davis Pinkney, M.E. Kerr, and Anne Mazer, about adolescent girls coming of age.

About this title

Review:

"Sometimes our inside-the-head world gets so crammed with what other people think that what we think gets squished out our ears or something." So laments the young protagonist Molly-Be-Gone in C. Drew Lamm's "Stay True," the title story in this impressive collection of short tales about teenage girls finding strength within themselves (and bringing it forth for the whole world to see). The contributing authors read like the women's wing of a young adult literature hall of fame: M.E. Kerr shows us a girl who rejects her parents' strait-laced culture and follows her true love; Rita Williams-Garcia tells the exuberant story of a young woman whose crazy dancing earns societal ostracism but brings her inner happiness; and Norma Fox Mazer offers a compelling tale about Grace, who learns to rise above the stigmatism she receives because of her size. Marian Flandrick Bray, Andrea Davis Pinkney, and Peni R. Griffin are among the other writers who make an inspiring appearance. The particulars of family structure, ethnicity, and geography may vary widely, but the young women in these stories are all fighting the good fight toward becoming independent women. As Molly-Be-Gone remembers, "We were fighting the alien girls living inside our heads and racing around in our guts. But we made a pact that night to try. To stay true to ourselves and each other." (Ages 12 and older) --Brangien Davis

From Kirkus Reviews:

Eleven well-known authorsall womenuse 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 waywithout 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) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bt Bound
• ISBN 10: 0613178645
• ISBN 13: 9780613178648
• Binding: Library Binding