Reviewed by coollibrarianchick for TeensReadToo.com

How many times have you looked at a photograph and wondered what the story was behind it? Photographs indicate relationships within and among people and nature. Photographs document one's perception of the world.

George Keane Henschler, or "Gee" as he likes to be called, and his granddaughter, Maggie, are the epicenter for all the stories in the book CLICK. The book starts off with a short story by Linda Sue Park. The authors that contributed to this book make up quite an impressive list: Deborah Ellis, Ruth Ozeki, Eoin Colfer, David Almond, Roddy Doyle, Nick Hornby, Margo Lanagan, and Gregory MacGuire

Parks gets the ball rolling, beginning with Gee's death and how it affects his granddaughter and his grandson, Jason. Maggie was terribly close to him and loved to hear his stories about his adventures as a photojournalist traveling the world. When he dies, he gives her a box with seven compartments holding shells with a note telling her to "throw it back." We learn that this serves as a map for her life's adventures. Jason, on the other hand, is a little bitter after finding out he is adopted and decides to reject his grandfather's gift of photographs and wants to sell them so he can look for his real father. He comes across a letter from Gee when he is about to steal something from him that basically changes his life. Gee knew that Jason had pilfered from him and now wants him to think about the people who love him and the road he is on and where it will lead.

The rest of the stories, all by different authors, take a part of the first story and do their own spin on it. One author chooses to write about how the box came into existence. Another author looks at the name "Keane" and writes a story connecting the family to an Irish Legacy. And still another author continues the story of Maggie - now Margaret- as she nears the end of her own life.

Each story, even though different than the one before, blends into each other almost seamlessly. Read by itself it might just be a bunch of nice short stories, but when all the stories are put together like so in this book it makes you realize that many relationships are circular in nature. Connections people make with random people they meet can have far-reaching effects.

CLICK, besides being interesting, is also benefiting Amnesty International. All royalties from the book will be donated to the group, which serves to protect people's human rights.

Say cheese....Click! ( )

Kirkus Review...
The work and travels of a talented photographer lie at the heart of this far-flung tale. Created collaboratively by the likes of Eoin Colfer, Nick Hornby, Deborah Ellis and Gregory Maguire, among others, to benefit Amnesty International, this unusual story unfolds a chapter at a time in a wide variety of directions. Readers find themselves in the present, the past and the future, as well as all over the world. This fluidity of time and setting, along with the large number of characters, might have resulted in a chaotic feel, but skillful writing (and presumably editing) overcomes this potential problem. In the opening vignette by Linda Sue Park, readers meet Maggie and her brother Jason who are mourning the loss of their grandfather, Gee. Several subsequent sections feature Maggie and Jason, but most focus on Gee, always through the eyes of another. Each chapter is distinct enough to reveal a bit about its author while effectively contributing to the overall portrait of a complex, committed, elusive man. While some readers may find the narrative jumps too challenging, those who follow the multi-strand plot will be rewarded with a thought-provoking and thoroughly engaging read. ( )

This is a book that has each chapter written by a different author. In the first chapter we meet Maggie (and Jason) whose grandfather, Gee, has just died. He left them both a present and Maggie's is a both a present and a puzzle. It consists of a wooden box with 7 smaller boxes inside, each of which contains a shell. The second chapter tells the story of how Gee was given one of the shells so I expected the rest of the book to be the stories behind the other shells. I was wrong. Instead we learn more about Jason and then meet up with Maggie again when she was older. Although I enjoyed the first half of the book, I found the later chapters less satisfactory and at the end I was still wanting to know the story of the other shells. This more like a collection of related short stories than 10 chapters that make up a whole story. ( )

After their famous photographer grandfather Gee dies, he leaves his grandson Jason some signed photographs from famous sports stars and his granddaughter a box of seven shells. These mysterious items begin the unfolding of mysteries that carry across decades.

Ten authors came together to write this novel, each writing one chapter, more of a series of short stories. It's amazing to me how well these stories weave together to make a complete picture, not just a random assortment of stories, but truely a novel. The different writing styles compliment each other quite well. The book is well written throughout, and the characters are interesting. This is a genuinely sweet and touching story, and definitely one of my new favorite books. ( )

I wasn't wowed by this book. Some of the interlinked stories were much better than others, and overall the book just didn't grab me. Sometimes it was difficult to hold on to all the characters and remember someone when they popped up again in later chapters. Overall I think the idea was great, but it just didn't work for me. ( )