How to use this Page

Since this week marks the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month, I decided to share my thoughts on a story from a collection entitled You Don’t Have a Clue: Latino Mystery Stories for Teens. For more on National Hispanic Heritage Month click here. 

Marla is one of the few white girls in a primarily Latino high school. When she goes missing, and is later found dead, the police draw their own conclusions, treating the case as open and shut, but Gloria, a journalist for the school newspaper, can’t rest until she’s sure justice has been served. With pad and paper in hand, she interviews everyone who might know anything about Marla’s final hours, pressing for answers to the questions the police aren’t asking.

"No Flowers for Marla" might be a short story, but it has every element of an excellent mystery - suspense, red herrings, and a surprising conclusion. The beginning and ending of the story are a bit flowery in terms of description and emotion, but the middle reads like a detailed crime report, focusing on every detail of Marla’s murder. Gloria isn’t especially well-developed beyond a brief glimpse into her family life and her stubborn persistence regarding Marla’s case, but she is the most believable teen detective I’ve read about. Her role as school newspaper reporter gives her a plausible reason to poke around in the business of the case, and the roadblocks she encounters are reasonable for a teenager trying to solve a crime, but not so insurmountable that she doesn’t eventually figure it all out. I also think she is a much more believable character than someone like, say, Nancy Drew, because we get to see her emotional reactions to each clue she uncovers. She’s not just a vehicle for finding clues, but a real character unto herself who is affected deeply by the case.

Due to the somewhat graphic nature of the subject matter, I would say that is a story for older teens. Though the collection it comes from is intended to celebrate Latino Mystery Stories for Teens, race is not heavily important to this story. More important are themes of community, violation, fear, and justice. Latino teens will be pleased, however, to see characters who look and speak like them featured in such a wonderfully well-crafted story. The mystery kept me eagerly turning the pages, and the bittersweet ending made me tear up just a little bit. Teachers might like to use this story as a mini lesson in constructing a strong mystery story. It would also make a nice read-aloud for a mystery-themed library program, for Halloween, or any time.

Preview the story below: 

Add a Comment

Today I’m introducing a brand-new feature here on the blog. This one is devoted to an oft-overlooked format of literature for kids: the short story. My library’s shelves are pretty well-stocked with short story collections, but they are much less likely to circulate than the novels shelved on either side of them. I’ve started trying to include them more in activities, especially for older readers who can sit and listen to a story that doesn’t have many illustrations. As I get to know the library collection and other kid-friendly short stories, I’ll be sharing them here, in the Short Story Spotlight. Each Monday, I’ll introduce one short story, give a brief review and, where applicable, suggestions for how to use it with kids, or how to get kids reading it.

I begin this week with "Fat Girls Can’t Don’t Run" by Lynea Bowdish.

"Fat Girls Can't Don't Run." by Lynea Bowdish. From Lay-ups and Long Shots. Darby Creek Publishing. 2008. ISBN: 9781581960785

This story comes from a collection of sports-themed stories entitled Lay-ups and Long Shots. It definitely fits in well with the second part of that title, because the main character of the story, Carla Anders, doesn’t see herself as the kind of person who can run, let alone win a race. Instead, she sees herself as a fat girl for whom dieting and exercise are equally hopeless. “The point,” she says, “is to stay as invisible as possible” because otherwise, she will be teased about her weight. One day in gym class, though, Carla forgets about trying to blend in and does what actually feels good to her - pushes herself harder to actually run competitively against a classmate.

This story deals with such an important subject in a gentle, yet empowering way, but I’m not sure the kind of reader who would appreciate it the most is necessarily the kind of reader who would choose to read a book with a basketball hoop on the cover. I would have loved this story in middle school, but there’s no way I’d have picked up such a sporty book. But the story is in there, just waiting, and I think every teacher and librarian can think of at least one girl who can benefit from the message that being “fat” doesn’t automatically exclude a girl from living life and trying to be healthy.

Another plus is that the story is quick and easy to read. It relates just this one small achievement in a girl’s life, draws its conclusions, and moves on. Skeptical readers will barely have time to scoff before the story is over. I’m not sure I’d use this as a read-aloud, but I will keep it in mind the next time a parent asks me for something about weight and self esteem.

Lynea Bowdish, whose name is new to me, is the author of a few other, vaguely familiar books. According to her author bio in the Layups and Long-Shots anthology, she was also a “large” kid, and “firmly believes bird watching and computer games should qualify as sports when it comes to school fitness tests.”

I borrowed Lay-Ups and Long Shots from my local public library. 

For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat. 

Add a Comment

Poet and young adult novelist Naomi Shihab Nye has written a collection of literary short stories for teens, all of which are 1000 words or less. Each story focuses on a pivotal or significant moment in the life of its main character, which serves to somehow uplift that character. Death, war, love, loss, and history are just some of the themes touched upon by these beautiful poetic stories. Some of the stories are interconnected, either because they focus on the same characters, or because the characters in one story are somehow related to the characters in another. Other stories stand all on their own. Different races, cultures, family structures and belief systems are represented, and as in Nye's other works, political and environmental issues turn up again and again.

This is a book for older teens who are used to reading more complicated prose. The stories remind me a lot of the things my fellow creative writing students used to write in college - thoughtful, deep, and filled with idealism and hope for a better future. High school kids interested in activism will eat up this collection, as will those kids who aspire to write fiction. Many of the pieces in this collection are open-ended and difficult to understand at first glance, or even after just one reading, so there is lots to think about, and lots to discuss.

My only criticism of this book is that after a while, the tone became monotonous. Every story has the same strong intellectual outlook, which can be somewhat draining to read all at once. I read this book in one sitting, but I wish I'd given myself more time to let each story settle before moving onto the next one.

Add a Comment

Altogether, One at a Time, a slim book containing four short stories, was originally published in 1971. Each story tells of a particular incident that changes the life of the main character in a profound way.

In "Inviting Jason," the main character's mother forces him to invite a kid he hates to his birthday party. "The Night of the Leonids" is about a boy and his grandmother whose opportunity to see a star formation that only occurs every thirty-three and a third years is thwarted by cloudy weather. "Camp Fat" is the story of a girl who goes to camp to lose weight and encounters a mysterious counselor who comes to her bedside each night with encouragement and advice. In "Momma at the Pearly Gates," a young girl relates the story of how her mother overcame racism in her public elementary school.

Though each story is thematically different, they do share some stylistic similarities. Each story begins in the midst of the action, with not much build-up, and no wasted words. I felt like I got to know the characters instantly, which really paid off when each story reached its pivotal moment. I was also really impressed at the subtle differences between the four main characters' voices. Some authors' characters all sound the same, but these truly sounded like four different people, with four distinct personalities.   

Short stories are not very popular among children, but the "Camp Fat" story, especially, has a creepiness to it that will be appealing to Goosebumps fans, and kids who like scary stuff. I actually think any of the stories with the possible exception of the last one, still felt fairly contemporary and could still appeal to a contemporary audience. I also think this book would have come in really handy when I was taking creative writing classes. These are very well-written short stories, and when I do start writing again, I might revisit this book for a refresher.

This is my second post in my series of E.L. Konigsburg reviews. The previous post, on About the B'nai Bagels, can be found here.

---

It's National Poetry Month! I'm celebrating by linking to a favorite poem at the end of every review I post in April. 

---

Display Comments Add a Comment