A girl thought to be a boy steals her sister's skirt, while a boy thought to be a girl refuses to wear a cornflower blue dress. One boy's love of a soldier leads to the death of a stranger. The present takes a bittersweet journey into the past when a man revisits the summer school where he had "an accidental romance." And a forgotten mother writes a poignant letter to the teenage daughter she hasn't seen for fourteen years.

Poised between the past and the future are the stories of now. In nontraditional narratives, short stories, and brief graphics, tales of anticipation and regret, eagerness and confusion present distinctively modern views of love, sexuality, and gender identification. Together, they reflect the vibrant possibilities available for young people learning to love others--and themselves--in today's multifaceted and quickly changing world.

Author: Michael Cart, Francesca Lia Block, David Levithan
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Harperteen
Published: 10/06/2009
Pages: 368
Weight: 0.77lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.50w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780061154980
Audience: Young Adult


Award: 2009 Lambda Literary Awards Finalist - Children/Young Adult


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Review - Children 09/01/2009
School Library Journal 09/01/2009 pg. 152
Booklist 10/15/2009 pg. 43
Romantic Times 12/01/2009 pg. 74 - Excellent
Voice of Youth Advocates 12/01/2009 - Recommended - Better Than Most
Multicultural Review 08/01/2010 pg. 73
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2010 - Recommended, Satisfactory

About the Author
Cart, Michael: -

Michael Cart is a writer, a lecturer, a consultant, and a nationally recognized expert in YA literature. He is the former director of the Beverly Hills (California) Public Library and a past president of the Young Adult Library Services Association, and his column "Carte Blanche" appears monthly in Booklist magazine.

He is the author or editor of twenty books, including the gay coming-of-age novel My Father's Scar, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; From Romance to Realism: 50 Years of Growth and Change in Young Adult Literature; and--with Christine A. Jenkins--The Heart Has Its Reasons, a critical history of young adult literature with gay/lesbian/queer content. His many anthologies include Love and Sex: Ten Stories of Truth, Necessary Noise: Stories About Our Families as They Really Are, and How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity.

In 2008, he became the first recipient of the YALSA/Greenwood Publishing Group Service to Young Adults Achievement Award, and in 2000, he received the Grolier Foundation Award for his contribution to the stimulation and guidance of reading by young people. Mr. Cart lives in Columbus, Indiana.

Block, Francesca Lia: -

Francesca Lia Block, winner of the prestigious Margaret A. Edwards Award, is the author of many acclaimed and bestselling books, including Weetzie Bat; the book collections Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books and Roses and Bones: Myths, Tales, and Secrets; the illustrated novella House of Dolls; the vampire romance novel Pretty Dead; and the gothic werewolf novel The Frenzy. Her work is published around the world.

Levithan, David: -

David Levithan is the critically acclaimed author of eight books for teens, many of which have appeared on ALA's Best Books for Young Adults list, including Boy Meets Boy, for which he won a Lambda Literary Award.

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