(3) YA Sixteen acclaimed authors explore how teenagers interact with guns in this provocative anthology of essays and short fiction. Marc Aronson's strong preface establishes a historical and social context of gun use in America; while the pieces that follow rarely feel moralistic, all turn a clear and critical eye toward the dangerous connections between guns, masculinity, and power.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(3) YA A talented corps of young adult and adult authors contribute to this polished, poignant collection exploring sexuality and gender identity. A mix of storytelling methods and genres makes for a balanced, appealing volume, albeit one that skews into the adult realm due to the wealth of retrospective grown-up narrators. The literary merit and emotional insight of the tales are nevertheless outstanding.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(2) YA The best volume in this series so far leads off with its best entry, David Yoo's hilarious take on mistaken (ethnic) identity. Strong contributions follow with a wide range of interpretations on the broad theme of "face." The range of style and approach offers good reading from cover to cover, or one entry at a time.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2005

(3) YA Centering on the theme of "bad boys," this literary anthology contains short stories ("T" by Eugenie Doyle is particularly riveting), a play, and nonfiction ("Surviving Jock Culture" by Robert Lipsyte and an excerpt from Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan's biography of Andy Warhol). Though the selections vary in quality, the wide-ranging content of this browsable volume will please a variety of tastes.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) YA This ambitious anthology embraces a wide range of forms and styles; the varied explorations of the volume's theme, sin, include original art, a cartoon, poems, historical essays, and fiction. It's unfortunate that the staid presentation fails to suggest the diversity within. The contributors include Brock Cole, Joan Bauer, Sonya Sones, and Nikki Grimes.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams

(2) YA Illustrated by Charlotte Noruzi. In a collection that happily lacks the written-to-order quality of so many thematic anthologies, ten original stories provide ten distinct perspectives on the quagmire that is "family," both that we are born to and that we choose for ourselves. The result is a collection with considerable range and depth. The style of the writers (including Walter Dean Myers, Lois Lowry, Joan Bauer, editor Cart) varies as much as their subjects.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2003

(2) YA With Marc Aronson and Marianne Carus. "We have asked a number of our favorite writers to reflect on September 11." Though some contributions have a makeshift or desultory quality, the best essays put the attacks in historical or autobiographical perspective. The variety of forms and perspectives provide not only a natural array for discussion but a model for young people responding on their own.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2002

(4) YA Stylistically and thematically diverse, this collection contains a frantic comic piece by Chris Lynch, self-consciously "literary" stories from Sonya Sones and Angela Johnson, and an intense first-person tale of same-sex desire by Michael Lowenthal. Most of the entries have a utilitation "written to order" feel, though readers will be drawn to the provocative subject matter of abortion, abstinence, and first sex.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2001