Synopses & Reviews
In this brand-new collection of short stories, Aidan Chambers explores moments of truth, when a character or an event suddenly reveals an often-surprising meaning: A girl loses her humanity when she takes a summer job as a theme-park character; a boy tries to save a girl from a fiery death, only to discover the same event happened one hundred years before. And the titular story, in which an innocent game takes a fatal turn, will haunt the reader for a long time.
These provocative stories beautifully lend themselves to discussion, and once again Chambers treats us to his fiercely intelligent, finely crafted prose and his incisive understanding of the wonderings of young people on the verge of adulthood.
Awards and praise for the work of Aidan Chambers
Michael L. Printz Award
Carnegie Medal
Hans Christian Andersen Award
“Beautifully written, emotionally touching, and intellectually challenging.” —VOYA
“Jam-packed with ideas and passionate characters.” —Publishers Weekly
“A marvelous wordsmith and magical storyteller.” —ALAN Review
“Disturbing, groundbreaking . . . original.” —Books for Keeps
Praise for The Kissing Game
“His [Chambers] sophisticated yet simple style is perfectly suited for an exploration of the new form of flash fictions—multi-genre drabbles that top out at 1,000 words—as well as standard short-story form. Thoughtful, challenging reading for teens on the cusp of adulthood.” -Kirkus Reviews
“more meaningful discussion and deeper understanding will only come from teens with more life experience, and theres real potential for possible use in high school English classes.” -School Library Journal
“Models for flash fiction and the short-story form as well as points of departure for challenging open-ended discussion, the stories in this collection lend themselves to multiple curricular uses as well as thoughtful personal reading.” -Bulletin of the Center for Childrens Books
Synopsis
In this brand-new collection of short stories, Aidan Chambers explores moments of truth, when a character or an event suddenly reveals an often-surprising meaning: A girl loses her humanity when she takes a summer job as a theme-park character; a boy tries to save a girl from a fiery death, only to discover the same event happened one hundred years before. And the titular story, in which an innocent game takes a fatal turn, will haunt the reader for a long time.
These provocative stories beautifully lend themselves to discussion, and once again Chambers treats us to his fiercely intelligent, finely crafted prose and his incisive understanding of the wonderings of young people on the verge of adulthood.
Awards and praise for the work of Aidan Chambers
Michael L. Printz Award
Carnegie Medal
Hans Christian Andersen Award
Beautifully written, emotionally touching, and intellectually challenging. VOYA
Jam-packed with ideas and passionate characters.
Publishers Weekly
A marvelous wordsmith and magical storyteller.
ALAN Review Disturbing, groundbreaking . . . original.
Books for Keeps
Praise for The Kissing Game
His Chambers] sophisticated yet simple style is perfectly suited for an exploration of the new form of flash fictions multi-genre drabbles that top out at 1,000 words as well as standard short-story form. Thoughtful, challenging reading for teens on the cusp of adulthood. Kirkus Reviews
more meaningful discussion and deeper understanding will only come from teens with more life experience, and there s real potential for possible use in high school English classes. School Library Journal
Models for flash fiction and the short-story form as well as points of departure for challenging open-ended discussion, the stories in this collection lend themselves to multiple curricular uses as well as thoughtful personal reading. Bulletin of the Center for Children s Books
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Synopsis
The masterpiece of one of young-adult literatures greatest living writers.”
Booklist, starred review
Using a pillow book as her form, nineteen-year-old Cordelia Kenn sets out to write her life for her unborn daughter. What emerges is a portrait of an extraordinary girl who writes frankly of love, sex, poetry, nature, and, most of all, of herself in the world. As she attempts to capture all” of herself on paper, Cordelia maddens, fascinates, and ultimately seduces the reader in this tour de force from a writer who has helped redefine literature for young adults. A book not to be missed by any serious reader.
Synopsis
Amulet Books is the home of Aidan Chambers, one of young-adult literatures greatest living writers.”*
With profound respect for readers, Chambers again stretches the YA genre to its edges and beyond. . . . Ambitious, imperfect, challenging, and powerfully affecting.” Kirkus Reviews, starred review
In this revelatory, groundbreaking novel, the love of sixteen-year-old Hal Robinson for self-confident Barry Gorman is revealed through Hals own observations, press clippings, and the scattered notes of a social worker. These various perspectives contribute to an extraordinarily sensitive portrait of the intensity of first love. The Horn Book writes, The author is marvelously gifted at suggesting the ecstasy and insecurity that accompany new loveincluding its emotional and physical, social and spiritual aspects. A major strength of the book, the central conflict hinges not on the lovers being gay, but on their having two idiosyncratic and contradictory personalities.”
Synopsis
The first two novels in Printz-winner Aidan Chamberss Dance Sequence are at last available in a fresh format that will draw teens to these classics of YA literature.
Literature is crap. Fiction is, anyway. A pretense. Ersatz. . . . When you read a story you are pretending a lie. Morgan
What begins as a game for Dittothe refutation of his friend Morgans Charges Against Literaturequickly escalates into a multilevel challenge. After Dittos father suffers a heart attack in the middle of one of their fights, Ditto decides he has to get away for a few days to sort out his life. His chronicle of his experiences becomes his rebuttal to Morgans Charges. But is this thought-provoking examination of people and ideas all fact . . . or fiction? Aidan Chambers leaves it up to the reader to decide in this novel that Publishers Weekly calls excruciatingly funny as well as touching.”
Includes a new afterword from the author!
Praise for Aidan Chambers
Michael L. Printz Award winner
Carnegie Medal winnerHans Christian Andersen Award winner
About the Author
Aidan Chambers is the author of the highly acclaimed Dance Sequence of young-adult novels: Breaktime, Dance on My Grave, Now I Know, The Toll Bridge, Postcards from No Mans Land, and This Is All. Aidan won the Michael L. Printz Award and the Carnegie Medal for Postcards from No Mans Land. He was also awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Award, childrens literatures highest honor, for his body of work. Hes only the second British writer to win it. He lives in the west of England with his American wife, Nancy. Visit his Web site at www.aidanchambers.co.uk.