Copyright Date:
2016
Edition Date:
2016
Release Date:
09/06/16
Pages:
345 pages
ISBN:
0-06-232736-4
ISBN 13:
978-0-06-232736-9
Dewey:
Fic
LCCN:
2015005621
Dimensions:
19 cm.
Language:
English
Reviews:
ALA Booklist
This short story collection explores one of our America's most hot-button issues: guns. A brief introduction by the editor and a prologue by Marc Aronson, Will Weaver, and Chris Crutcher prime readers for the stories to come, which span the numerous ways that guns affect teen lives across the country, in both urban and rural settings. Gregory Galloway writes of teens on a backwoods hunting trip contemplating shooting each other for the stories it'll allow them to tell. Alex Flinn follows a girl embarrassed by her dad's gun-nut friend, until the zombie apocalypse makes her rethink things. Francesca Lia Block shows an elementary teacher faced with a reptile expert unexpectedly wielding a gun. In a wordless comic, Eric Shanower provides an interpretation of what goes wrong when Eros trades in his bow and arrow for more powerful, modern weaponry. As a collection, this anthology functions less as an evaluation of whether guns are good or bad but, rather, as an incisive glimpse at how guns function, both symbolically and literally, in contemporary society. Sobering and thought-provoking.
School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up-An essay on guns in America by three award-winning authors sets the stage for 13 short stories from an impressive list of writers including Chris Lynch, Francesca Lia Block, and Walter Dean Myers. Ron Koertge's "The Bodyguard: A Fable" offers an unusual perspective on hunting, Myers's "Roach" explores the feeling of power that guns bring to the powerless, while Elizabeth E. Wein's "The Battle of Elphinloan" is about coming face to face with the enemy during war. Standout contributions are Alex Flinn's "Fight or Flight" about preparing for the unexpected, and Jenny Hubbard's heart-breaking "The Babysitters" about a little girl lost too soon and those who remember her. The common themes of power and pain are nicely woven throughout the collection, and the stories cover a wide variety of gun-related topics, though it is unfortunate that Myers's contribution is the sole representation of the urban experience. VERDICT This well-themed collection contains many well-executed stories and is sure to catch the eye of the many teens fascinated by the topic. Elizabeth Saxton, Tiffin, OH
Powerful, riveting, real. Sixteen celebrated authors bring us raw, insightful stories that explore guns and teens in a fiction collection that is thought provoking and emotionally gripping. For fans of Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock and Give a Boy a Gun, and with an array of YA talent like the late great Walter Dean Myers, the poetic Joyce Carol Oates, the prophetic Elizabeth Wein, and the gritty Chris Crutcher, these are evocative voices that each has a different perspective to give. Capturing the hurt and the healing, victims and perpetrators, these stories get to the heart of the matter.
From a boy whose low self-esteem is impacted when a gun comes into his possession to a student recalling a senseless tragedy that befell a favorite teacher, from a realistic look at hunting to a provocative look at a family that defies stereotypes, each emotional story stirs the debate to new levels. The juxtaposition of guns and their consequences offers moving tales, each a reminder of how crucial the question of guns in our society is, and the impact they have on all of us.
Other acclaimed contributors are Marc Aronson, Edward Averett, Francesca Lia Block, Alex Flinn, Gregory Galloway, Jenny Hubbard, Peter Johnson, Ron Koertge, Chris Lynch, Eric Shanower, Will Weaver, and Tim Wynne-Jones.
Introduction
/ Michael Cart
Prologue a culture of guns-- with comments from sons
/ Marc Aronson, Will Weaver, Chris Crutcher
Roach
/ Walter Dean Myers
Embraced by raven arms
/ Tim Wynne-Jones
Shoot
/ Gregory Galloway
The bodyguard: a fable
/ Ron Koertge
Fight or flight
/ Alex Flinn
Certified deactivated
/ Chris Lynch
Love packs heat
/ Eric Shanower
The dragon
/ Francesca Lia Block
The babysitters
/ Jenny Hubbard
The battle of elphinloan
/ Elizabeth Wein
Dark Hobby
/ Edward Averett
The gunslinger
/ Peter Johnson
Heartbreak
/ Joyce Carol Oates.