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A review by ellenannmary
The Climbers by Keith Gray
4.0
3.5/5 stars. Book 5/18 on my Carnegie Long list Mission, though the first one I’ve read with this in mind.
Barrington Stokes are always interesting beasts. Writing such short form fiction is clearly a challenge for many writers, which seems to often have mixed results. The difficulty with their Teen offerings in particular is finding ways to reflect the emotional and intellectual maturity of teenagers whilst juggling this with the need to keep the language accessible and story brief.
The Climbers is definitely one of the more successful offerings in this collection. Whilst perhaps for younger teens, this perfectly captures the adventure and excitement of having something exciting and dangerous to share without adult supervision. What Gray does particularly well with this story is the subtlety with which he conveys just how dangerous the tree climbing is without having to write it in explicitly. I genuinely felt a bit spinny towards the end there.
The only real drawback is the slightly goofy dialogue - I know that reflecting actual teen dialogue is tough but woof, this felt silly. Things like this can make a book feel like it’s a children’s book for adults to enjoy and approve of, rather than a book for teens to seek out and enjoy on their own terms.
In terms of the Carnegie, I don’t quite see this going the distance, but it could shortlist.
Barrington Stokes are always interesting beasts. Writing such short form fiction is clearly a challenge for many writers, which seems to often have mixed results. The difficulty with their Teen offerings in particular is finding ways to reflect the emotional and intellectual maturity of teenagers whilst juggling this with the need to keep the language accessible and story brief.
The Climbers is definitely one of the more successful offerings in this collection. Whilst perhaps for younger teens, this perfectly captures the adventure and excitement of having something exciting and dangerous to share without adult supervision. What Gray does particularly well with this story is the subtlety with which he conveys just how dangerous the tree climbing is without having to write it in explicitly. I genuinely felt a bit spinny towards the end there.
The only real drawback is the slightly goofy dialogue - I know that reflecting actual teen dialogue is tough but woof, this felt silly. Things like this can make a book feel like it’s a children’s book for adults to enjoy and approve of, rather than a book for teens to seek out and enjoy on their own terms.
In terms of the Carnegie, I don’t quite see this going the distance, but it could shortlist.