No cover to show, alas. However, this new story collection features some of my favorite YA authors including An Na, Tobin Anderson, and Chris Lynch. NO SUCH THING AS THE REAL WORLD (HarperTeen, April 2009) also has an interesting twist. YA readers are urged to write their own short story and submit it to the editors (this is a Laura Geringer book) for possible inclusion in the paperback edition of this same collection.

I know the difficulties story collections face. Too many times, they are placed in the SC (story collection) area of the library and languish for lack of readers). However, if librarians and teachers would share some of the stories in the collections, I do think they would circulate more. At the very least, if librarians would bring these to the attention of English teachers looking for more relevant stories to share in class... But back to this collection.

Six stories examine the theme of growing up and getting a life. Tobin Anderson's "The Projection: A Two Part Invention," is certain to provoke discussion for its format and its contents as two teens parry and thrust on the stage of a high school auditorium or are they real at all? Chris Lynch's haunting "Arrangements" centers on Charlie, a young man who has inherited his father's pawn shop. What he learns about his father and the "arrangements" he made with former clients is gut-wrenching. Jacqueline Woodson's "The Company", Beth Kephart's "The Longest Distance" and K.L. Going's "Survival" wound out this anthology. Recommended for ages 14 and up, this truly is a collection appropriate for older readers, one that (I hope) will lead them to read longer works by each of these truly gifted writers.