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 exciting collection, bestselling authors Meg Cabot (
How to Be Popular), Kim Harrison (
A Fistful of Charms), Michele Jaffe (
Bad Kitty), Stephenie Meyer (
Twilight), and Lauren Myracle (
ttyl) take bad prom nights to a whole new level a paranormally bad level. Wardrobe malfunctions and two left feet don't hold a candle to discovering your date is the Grim Reaper and he isn't here to tell you how hot you look.
From angels fighting demons to a creepy take on getting what you wish for, these five stories will entertain better than any DJ in a bad tux. No corsage or limo rental necessary. Just good, scary fun.
About the Author
Stephenie Meyer, author of the bestselling
Twilight and
New Moon, graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English Literature. She lives with her husband and three young sons in Arizona.
New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison was born and raised in the upper Midwest. Her bestselling Hollows novels include Dead Witch Walking; The Good, the Bad, and the Undead; Every Which Way But Dead; A Fistful of Charms; For a Few Demons More; The Outlaw Demon Wails; White Witch, Black Curse; Black Magic Sanction; Pale Demon, A Perfect Blood, Ever After, and The Undead Pool, plus the short story collection Into the Woods, The Hollows Insider and graphic novels Blood Work and Blood Crime. She also writes the Madison Avery series for young adults.
Meg Cabot was born in Bloomington, Indiana. In addition to her award-winning adult contemporary fiction, she is the author of bestselling young adult fiction, including The Princess Diaries and the Mediator series. More than twenty-five million copies of her novels for children and adults have sold worldwide. Meg lives in Key West, Florida, with her husband.
Lauren Myracle is the New York Times bestselling author of The Infinite Moment of Us, Shine, and the ttyl series, along with lots of other books for tweens and teens. Unlike her darling coauthors, Lauren is an excellent driver and has never gotten lost in her life. She is very happy that youre a reader and is sending you a virtual high five.
Michele Jaffe is the author of Bad Kitty, Kitty Kitty, and the mangas Bad Kitty: Catnipped and Bad Kitty: Catnapped as well as several adult novels, including the thrillers Bad Girl and Loverboy. After getting her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Harvard, she retired from academia and decided to become an FBI special agent or glamorous showgirl but somehow ended up writing. A native of Los Angeles, CA, Michele and her sparkly shoes reside in New York City.