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sarahbethbrown's review
4.0
This is a delightful book. I had not even heard of it, but it won a newbery! It's just the intersecting little lives of a bunch of kids in the 70s, but they are just told really wonderfully. It felt really true-- so many moments I remember feeling the same way when I was a teenager. I wonder if teens recognize those feelings in themselves?
idgetfay's review
4.0
I started to Marie Kondo my ‘Want-to-Read’ list. It involves two steps: getting rid of the books I think I should want to read but don’t actually want to read, then reading the ones I actually want to read. I decided to read this one because it had the lowest average rating of my entire Want-to-Read list. I am happy to report that I disagree with the average. This book was a delight, but it’s subtle. I think the book sums itself up with this quote: “Nothing happened. Everything happened.” The characters made this book come alive for me… they learn guitar, and how to drive. They go out for ice cream. They lose a necklace. They watch the lights come on at the used car lot. The most exciting thing that happens is that an old lady needs medical care. These teens are not heroes and they’re not adults but they’re right on the edge of both. Instead of saving the world they pick up garbage and help their grandmother and it’s that much more important because it’s that much more real. The prose is so lovely… you swoop from character to character, seeing slices of their lives and hearing their thoughts from the mundane to the philosophical. The callbacks and connections are skillfully done, like good standup comedy but for poignancy. It’s hard to describe, and clearly it’s not for everyone, but I loved it.
rbreade's review against another edition
Wonderfully written, and a rare example of the omniscient mode in middle-grade/YA fiction, where first-person point of view has been king in recent years, it seems. The warm tone of the narrator follows a group of middle school kids, 14 years old, and some of the adults around them, as they go about their lives in a smallish town in a time before the Internet and cell phones. The narrator has a playful side, dipping briefly into the point of view of an inanimate object, such as a necklace, or animals, but two characters become slightly more prominent than the others: Debbie and Hector. The insights into the characters' lives, particularly those of the kids, proves the writer has not forgotten what it was like to be 14--in fact, she must have been taking excellent notes.
In my taxonomy of writers, there are storytellers and voice masters, the latter blessed with the ability to marry lovely, startling prose to interesting characters in offering amazing commentaries on life, while the former have a sure grasp of plot and are able to shape story arcs that seem inevitable and surprising at the same time.
Readers tend to prefer one to the other--we're all fortunate if we find the rare writer who combines both talents. I love a great story but I prefer those with a strong voice and beautiful prose; these are the books I reread, and Criss Cross falls into this category. Writers such as J. K. Rowling and, to a lesser extent, Suzanne Collins, are consummate storytellers. I enjoyed both of their series, but neither contains a single memorable sentence; once I've read their stories I don't feel the need to revisit their books. I think most people prefer the storytellers, though, to judge by the bestseller lists, and that's fine, so long as the market still has room for those whose words are more than simply a vehicle to move characters and readers from one plot twist to the next.
Reread on May 6, 2012.
In my taxonomy of writers, there are storytellers and voice masters, the latter blessed with the ability to marry lovely, startling prose to interesting characters in offering amazing commentaries on life, while the former have a sure grasp of plot and are able to shape story arcs that seem inevitable and surprising at the same time.
Readers tend to prefer one to the other--we're all fortunate if we find the rare writer who combines both talents. I love a great story but I prefer those with a strong voice and beautiful prose; these are the books I reread, and Criss Cross falls into this category. Writers such as J. K. Rowling and, to a lesser extent, Suzanne Collins, are consummate storytellers. I enjoyed both of their series, but neither contains a single memorable sentence; once I've read their stories I don't feel the need to revisit their books. I think most people prefer the storytellers, though, to judge by the bestseller lists, and that's fine, so long as the market still has room for those whose words are more than simply a vehicle to move characters and readers from one plot twist to the next.
Reread on May 6, 2012.
rdyourbookcase's review
1.0
Unfortunately, I didn't finish Criss Cross. I just didn't understand it. Too many characters were introduced at once, and I couldn't keep them all straight. It just wasn't my cup of tea. However, one of our book club members had amazing insights to the book. Had I read it with her frame of mind, I would have understood a lot better and LOVED it. Unfortunately, I don't think children or teens would enjoy Criss Cross; it just seemed too slow moving.
roomforastory's review
4.0
Quirky and endearing. I'm giving it four stars for taking me back so vividly to some of the moments that I experienced as an awkward teenager, wondering about what it would be like to be an adult and doing my best to just make it through. I listened to this one and I'd like to reread it because I wasn't a big fan of how the reader interpreted it.
erinmp's review
2.0
I really didn't think much of this book. One reviewer called it "literary fiction for little tykes" and I think that's a pretty apt description. But the story that focuses on a small group of friends over a summer just didn't do anything for me. I didn't think that any one character was really explored and even though I don't need things to "happen" in books to make it good, this just didn't have the other needed features to save it. Thankfully it was a quick read.
liliya_klein's review
4.0
I remember dealing with these same thoughts at age 14. The book captured the feelings and anxieties of those years so well with a wonderfully wholesome strand running through it.
adriencarver's review
5.0
Simple and sweet. You don't always need a traditional plot. You really care about these kids just by peering into their lives and the regular things they do and the thoughts they think. One of the best closing paragraphs of any book ever.