Thursday, January 14, 2010

Up All Night


Six YA authors take on the concept of an all-nighter.  What happens in the wee hours of the night into the morning?
"Phase 2" by Peter Abrahams is the story of a family who experiences a tragedy and need help to move on.
In "Not Just for Breakfast Anymore" by Libba Bray, four teenage girls have a crazy night in search of a rock band and one reveals the secrets of her new life after her parent's divorce.
"The Vulnerable Hours" by David Levithan explores the intangible feeling that sometimes comes for staying up all night and the secrets will all keep inside of us.
"Orange Alert" by Partricia McCormick tells the story of a girl who wants to learn to drive and her stepfather's increasingly uncomfortable interest in her.  But after an all night drive, she learns to take back the power that belongs to her.
In "Superman is Dead" by Sarah Weeks, a teenager babysitting his little brother has to deal with the death of pet and the birth of a new brother.
And lastly, "The Motherless One" is a comic by Gene Luen Yang that shows Monkey's quest to understand his origins.

There is such freedom in learning you can leave.
David Levithan -"The Vulunerable Hours" p. 124 Up All Night

This was an excellent anthology.  I loved most of the stories, but was especially impressed with David Levithan, Libba Bray, and Sarah Weeks' stories.  They all gave a great sense of that feeling that you get in the middle of the night when you are just awake and there is that possibility of everything.  Levithan's story in particular drives home this point so I'm going to choose him as my favorite and pick Are We There Yet? as my read for Take Another Chance Challenge:
Find an anthology of your choice. Read at least 5 entries in the anthology. Of the 5 entries you've read, pick your favorite one and then find a book by that writer and read it. (If your first choice doesn't have a book, then pick your next favorite until you find a writer that has a book.) Write about the anthology, your favorite pick from the anthology, and the book you read by your favorite pick.

3 comments:

  1. This looks like it could fit into my short story challenge. And I love all nighters :)

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  2. This sounds interesting. I might have to grab it and read a story or three over a few weeks. :)

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  3. I think this is such a neat concept for a book. I'll be interested to see what you think of the book by Levithan!

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