Criss Cross

This book won the 2006 Newbery Medal, and I am for once in complete accord with the Newbery Committee. Perkins' prose is spare and clean. Some of the passages simply glow, especially when they are highlighting the ways in which we try to communicate and fail. Characters who love each other are at cr......more

I just loved this. It reminded me of the great fiction I read in Sassy magazine when I was a young teenager, before it went bust. I honestly didn't expect to like it, but it wasn't nearly as weird or quirky as I expected--I'd heard that parts of it were "told in verse", for instance, but there's jus......more

"She wished something would happen. Something good. To her." keep wishing! This was just a random collection of memories, most of them not contributing towards the story in any way. Kirkus Reviews says 'A poignantly funny coming-of-age story'. Not only did I not find it funny, most of the characters......more

The winner of the Newbery Medal in 2006 features a set of 14 year olds whose paths criss cross in various ways. Small town life in the early 1970s seemed to me a bit unusual for a 21st century Newbery but I found it good, at times entrancing. In 1973, I had a 3 year old and a new baby. I felt rather......more

I wasn't even on Goodreads when I read this, and the five stars is just a guess, but I do know I loved it. Copying and pasting (and cutting) from two LJ write-ups below. Okay, so probably most people have read Criss Cross by now - or at least, everyone in the States, as for some bizarre reason, it ST......more