No Such Thing as the Real World

What is the Real World?  For each of us, it is different.  For Hannah, it is her best friend, Joelles suicide.  How could Hannah have been blind to Joelles sadness?  For Charlie Waters, Jr. it is taking over the pawnbroker business of his father, Charlie Sr., the govnor of Lundy Lee by virtue of him being a nice guy.  Can Charlie Jr. live up to the reputation?   For Rachel it is following in the footsteps of her self-centered but smart and talented older sister, Sarah?  Can Rachel ever feel grown up when dealing with Sarah?

Six talented young adult authors (M.T. Anderson, K.L.Going, Beth Kephart, Chris Lynch, An Na and Jaqueline Woodson) have written different real world (and maybe not so real world) stories about growing up.  Readers will be able to relate to at least one story in the book and those they cant relate to they can enjoy for the storyline and the writing.

There is the poignant (The Longest Distance), the funny, but sad (Arrangements), the odd (The Projection: A Two-Part Invention), the artistic (The Company), the familial (Survival) and the plotting (Complication).  Each story is told from a teenagers point of view.  The writing is crisp, descriptive, and flowing.  The stories are engaging, emotional, funny.  The characters are real, everyday folk.

No Such Thing as the Real World is a good rainy day read (its been raining here for days).  Curl up with it and get carried away.  It is a fine example of great young adult literature.