Have you ever made a wish? Did it come true?

Debbie’s wish did, but her wish was simple—that something happened.

Things do happen, but nothing earth-shattering. Just your regular stuff.

Criss Cross is story about boys and girls, growing up, falling in love for the first time, and finding friends. Debbie’s wish sets off a series of seemingly unrelated events, that, when taken together, connects a group of young kids lives in a “criss cross” way. Many parts of the book are funny, especially the illustrations. One chapter is written almost entirely in haikus. Some parts are sad, and scary, and others down right weird. In other words, just like in real life. ( )

Brilliantly written. The characters are so real, you feel as though you might bump into them on the street one day, and if you did, you'd recognize them in a second. Their teenage voices are pure and spot-on; I remember as a teen thinking some of the same thoughts the girl Debbie expresses during the book, except that she expresses my thoughts better than I knew how to express them at the time. An all out joy to read and to get carried back to your teenage days with. ( )

This novel is a good example of realistic fiction because the characters (Debbie, and Hector are the main two) in this story are not real people, but the events that take place in this book are trying to illustrate the ways that our lives are all related and intertwine with each other. ( )

This book is a good example of a realistic fiction novel because it is not set at a historic time and the characters are believable and could be found anywhere. The book centers around four friends as they grow up and into teenagers.
Age Appropriateness: Middle
Media: black and white photos, and sketches ( )

I LOVED this book! Author Lynne Rae Perkins is only a year older than I am, and this book mirrors her (and my) adolescence. Described in a discussion guide as “a companion novel to the award-winning All Alone in the Universe, Debbie is fourteen...;” she, the main character, is also described as being 13 and the year being 1969 in All Alone, so Criss Cross must be set in 1970. ”Words of Love,” the Mamas and the Papas song that Hector is listening to on pages 105-106 of the hardbound edition, came out in November 1966, and would still be getting airplay in 1970. However, much of what happens in the book has that timeless quality that makes it possible for anyone to relate to it.

The title comes from a fictional music and comedy radio show Debbie and her friends Lenny, Hector, Patty, and Phil listen to on Saturdays. It’s also reflective of the criss-crossing (but not always intersecting) activities and relationships of the characters in the book. I loved the illustration near the title page of “the spectrum of connectedness,” showing dots for “people move back and forth in this area like molecules in steam,” the area being that between 0% and 100% connectedness, both of which say “no one is here—no one.”

The book is very humorous, in a subtle way. Chapter 8, called “Easy Basin Wrench, or Debbie Has a Mechanical Moment, Too,” is one of my favorites, with Debbie reading aloud to her father the instructions for a basin wrench, which were obviously not originally written in English. There’s a funny scene in chapter 16 where Debbie plays one of those games with the letters in the names of herself and the jock she has a crush on, trying to see what permutations bring up the result (married!) she’s looking for. There’s even a clever reference to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (quoted from at the beginning of the book), with an illustration of Debbie’s crush as a donkey (page 140 in the hardbound edition).

I thought the writing was wonderful, conjuring up images and memories based on the words alone. This book is definitely character-driven rather than plot-driven, and that may make it hard for many of today’s vampire-loving teens to relate to it. Despite interesting male characters, I see this book appealing more to introspective girls, ages 14 and up.

I loved Broadway actress Danielle Ferland’s reading of this book, and I can’t understand why others have disliked it so much. I felt she used great expression in the reading and in coming up with some variations in voices for the characters, often sounding like a sarcastic or bored or self-conscious teen herself. I had no trouble following the haiku (which I thought was wonderful!) in chapter 14, nor the conversation between Debbie and Patty in chapter 10 (where, I note in the print version, the author quits using initials to designate who is speaking partway through the conversation – thereby, in my opinion, emphasizing the universality of such “girl-talk.”). However, the numerous illustrations (black-and-white photographs, pen-and-ink drawings, or a mixture of those media) in the print versions add a LOT to this book, probably making it more accessible to the target audience.

According to a January 24, 2006, report on NPR, Criss Cross was praised by the Newbery Committee chair as "an orderly, innovative, and risk-taking book in which nothing happens and everything happens." In a USA Today article the day before, Perkins said she “was inspired by her own adolescence as a ‘late bloomer’ who needed reassurance that ‘life doesn't always happen like it does in movies and books, but that's OK.’" ( )