Synopsis
Pearl dresses up as a boy to survive on the streets, where she finds her long-lost mother, while Mick and Greg risk stealing animals from pet stores in order to save the souls of those who would cage them, in a collection of poignant stories about young people reaching out to others.
Reviews
Grade 7 Up-A beautiful collection of 12 "short takes," peopled with characters to whom teens will recognize and relate. Each story is a snapshot of life where a young person is touched by the kindness of a friend or a stranger, leaving the protagonist stronger, a better person, or more self-confident. In "Home," a runaway girl is given shelter by a woman who turns out to be her mother. In "Starr," a babysitter and a motherless 14-year-old share a memorable summer. In "Souls," Mick and his buddy rescue animals from local pet stores because "How could it ever be right to sell a being with a soul?" In each of the selections, Johnson's spare but sparkling prose creates a window through which readers can witness and reflect on the similarities of life in the inner city, the country, or in upscale suburbia. In just a few pages, the characters are given voice and a moment to shine. This book would make a fine addition to any short-story collection.
Tracey Firestone, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
In these 12 well-honed stories told in first-person narrative, Johnson (Toning the Sweep) zeroes in on the idealism and resiliency that make young people a powerful force in the world. Despite their rough circumstances, these characters have a keen and refreshing sense of justice that helps them recognize?and perform?compassionate acts. In "Starr," Johnson paints a stirring portrait of an unusual woman who makes the most of her finite life span, as seen through the eyes of the young girl she babysits. And in "Sweetness," Johnson delves into the contradictions of human nature, focusing on a 15-year-old who saves an abandoned baby and holds up a convenience store in the same day. Johnson ties this collection together with the dual themes of homelessness and belonging; whatever their personal hardships, these characters find shelter in their connection to others, grace in their appreciation of life's uplifting moments. Johnson's flavorful language will draw readers immediately into these brief, emotion-packed dramas. And after entering the often harsh and humbling worlds Johnson describes, readers will agree with the narrator of "By the Time You Read This": "Some people come into your life and do nothing but make it better. They help you see what you may become. They foster growth and health in all things." Ages 11-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Gr. 7^-12. These 12 touching vignettes are about outsiders: children and adults who are literally outside without shelter and also those who have comfortable suburban homes but don't fit in there. The inner-city streets are grim--a screaming boy sees his baby cousin "shot in a driveby," and when no one will stop to help, he takes the dying child on the bus to the hospital; yet there's hope in the tenderness of those, like the boy, who transcend the violence and find the strength to reach out. As in many of Johnson's novels, the adults can be as needy as the kids, and they sometimes swap roles to care for each other. There is also a profound empathy for the mentally disabled and for those who love them. A couple of cumulative disaster comedies lighten things with laugh-out-loud slapstick. But the dominant tone is of loss, the yearning for what might have been, a place to be safe and to grow old. Hazel Rochman
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