On The Edge: Stories At The Brink

Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0689822510, Hardcover)

In a third collection of riveting young adult short stories, following Night Terrors and Trapped!, Lois Duncan draws on her experience as the award-winning author of more than 40 young adult suspense thrillers to put together a choice selection of tales about being on the brink. A dozen stellar teen novelists--including fresh new talents Ellen Wittlinger and Gail Carson Levine--have each contributed an original story in which a young person is on the edge mentally, physically, or psychologically.

In Graham Salisbury's "The Ravine," a boy teeters on the cliff of a high jungle waterfall, but then proves himself by refusing his friends' challenge to jump. In "Fine?" Margaret Peterson Haddix brilliantly depicts a young girl's sense of alienation from "normal" life as she waits in the hospital for a diagnosis of terminal illness. Alden Carter displays previously unsuspected comic talent with "Pig Brains," in which a boy goes way out on the edge to vanquish a bully with a well-planned gross-out. William Sleator, in "Unbalanced," makes us hope for more stories drawn from his experiences as a rehearsal pianist for the Boston Ballet. Terry Davis crafts a heartbreaking scenario for a cinematic episode about the flight of Hmong refugees from the Pather Lao. Other stories by Pete Hautman, Liza Ketchum, Winifred Morris, Gloria Skurzynski, and Rich Wallace explore different aspects of brinksmanship, in a collection (perfect for reading aloud) that will have teens tracking down the novels of these authors. (Ages 10 and older) --Patty Campbell