Thursday, June 2, 2011 “Peak” by Roland Smith “You messed up, Pete.” “Peak,” I said. “Like in ‘mountain peak’?” “Right.” “Weird name.” “Weird parents.” Peak Marcello, as his name suggests, is a climber. His mom and dad, both mountain climbers, started him climbing at an early age, and his mom has encouraged him his whole […]

Saturday, June 4, 2011 “Aphrodite’s Blessings; Love Stories From the Greek Myths” by Clemence McLaren “If I were racing against someone as handsome as Milanion,” Filomena said, “I’d let him win… by just a little.” She gestured with thumb and index finger. Atalanta, princess, has been brought up to be an athlete. When her father […]

Friday, May 6, 2011 “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck George and Lenny are not much alike. While George is quick and intelligent, Lenny is large, with the mind of a small child. Yet they travel together, working as laborers in California vegetable fields, George protecting Lenny, and Lenny following George like a faithful […]

Tuesday, May 3, 2011 “Boy Meets Boy” by David Levithan “GUESS WHAT!” I said. She jumped, then tried to pretend she hadn’t been surprised. Since she didn’t closer her book-she only marked the page with her finger-I knew I didn’t have mch time.“What?” she asked.“I’m gay!”Paul, a sophmore at a school where the cheerleaders ride […]

Sunday, February 13, 2011 “Cloaked in Red” by Vivian Vande Velde “Cloaked in Red” is a collection of small stories, re-telling -with different elements, characters, and details- the story of “Little Red Riding Hood”. The book opens with the author jestingly pointing out all of the problems with the original “Little Red Riding Hood” stories; […]

Saturday, June 26, 2010 Into the Wild Nerd Yonder (My Life on the Dork Side) by Julie Halpern “You know,” I say, “with Chloe Romano as your homecoming date, you could be homecoming king.” Barrett lets out a scream of terror.Jessie isn’t exactly a nerd. Well, she is a little. She’s a self professed “mathelete”, […]

Thursday, November 18, 2010 Write Naked by Peter Gould She has to think for a minute, whether to tell me or not. Then she does. “You’re in it.”“In what?”“In my tracking journal. You’re an entry.”Oh, great. She was stalking me.Victor is a pretty regular sixteen year old, just trying to live “under the radar.” He […]

Monday, June 21, 2010 Love, Football, and Other Contact Sports by Alden R. Carter Kicker. Can be identified by his clean uniform, small size, nervous tics, and a perplexed frown that seems to be asking, “What am I doing here?” Kicks the ball as far as he can (a kickoff) to start the game. He […]

Monday, December 21, 2009 Backwater by Joan Bauer She peered at me some more. I wasn’t used to such scrutiny. “I suppose at this moment you think I’m the craziest woman you’ve ever met,” she said quietly. I looked at her standing there with birds on her arms and head. “Fiona’s crazier,’ I assured her. […]