Authors from diverse backgrounds contribute original fiction to a collection of short stories exhibiting an immense range of U.S. adolescent life according to race, region and economic class, and in juxtaposition to each other, addressing "what it means to be ethnic and American," according to African-American compiler/writer Joyce Carol Thomas. Other writers represented in this distinctive anthology include Ana Castillo, Gerald Haslam, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, Maxine Hong Kingston, Kevin Kyung, Lois Lowry, Gary Soto, Gerald Vizenor, Rick Wernli and Al Young. The fictions differ widely in themes, styles and tones, offering a variety of satisfying challenges for male and female readers. (Age 14 and older)

A young Chicano family places all its dreams for the future on a golden cockroach.

Children on a Chippewa reservation carve a tribal trickster from a block of ice in the middle of July.

A young black woman with a gift for preaching decides she'll fly on Sunday at the Perfect Peace Baptist Church.

Written by such distinguished authors as Maxine Hong Kingston, Lois Lowry, Gary Soto, and Joyce Carol Thomas, the short stories in this collection are a celebration of diversity--a tribute to the races and cultures that make up America. Here are exquisitely crafted fables and fantasies, surprising turns of plots, intricate patterns, and powerful rhythms that take the reader from rural Oklahoma to a Chicago Latino barrio, from an East Coast neighborhood to urban San Francisco, and beyond. Here are stories that illuminate the glory, the splendor, the achings and failings of young people growing up across the country--and that address what it is truly like to be ethnic and American.

"Readers are treated to the cultural richness of [eleven] stories depicting the frustrations and celebrations of young people in the United States: Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, White Americans, and Japanese Americans." -EJ. "The collection is rich and colorful, containing strong individual voices. A subtle and sophisticated assortment, dominated by an appealing honesty and authenticity." -C.

1991 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)