Under the Radar Review:Such a Pretty Face ~ Short Stories about Beauty
Friday, August 31st, 2007
edited by Ann Angel
Amulet Books, May 2007
(ARC copy – quotes may differ from final published version)
I really like short stories. But short story collections based around a theme, especially in books aimed at young adults, can be really hard to pull off. They can seem gimmicky and didactic, kind of “here’s what some out-of-touch executive type thinks teens want to read about.” I was wary of this particular title, Such a Pretty Face: Short Stories about Beauty, for just those reasons. I worried that it might be a series of tales about self-conscious “typical teens” overly preoccupied with their weight/skin/hair/shoe size/etc. I’m pleased to report that this was not the case. This collection really does work, thanks to the incredible assemblage of talented authors and the editorial stylings of Ann Angel*.
The stories all feature teenage protagonists and explore different facets of the concept of beauty. There’s a lot of variety in tone and style, ranging from poignant (“Red Rover, Red Rover” by Chris Lynch, about a hospitalized boy who’s in love with a nurse he’s never actually seen), empowering (“What I Look Like” by Jamie Pittel**, in which a girl experiments with her appearance as she establishes her own distinct identity), romantic (“Bella in Five Acts” by Tim Wynne-Jones, about an undersized boy and a beautiful, suicidal girl), and wacky (“Bad Hair Day” by Lauren Myracle, in which a homecoming queen is beset by a supernatural chin hair).
One of the more bittersweet offerings is “Bingo” by Anita Riggio, about a depressed boy whose bubbly best friend tries to save him from himself:
{Note: For the rest of today’s Radar-Books schedule, scroll down to the bottom of this post} . . . 
It’s the summer of 1968 in the small town of Cumberland, Missouri, and Billie — from whose perspective the entire novel is told — is eleven years old. Not only does she not register in her parents’ radar on any level whatsoever (other than providing her food and shelter, as if she’s simply a pet to feed), but the town, way past its heyday, suddenly seems even lonelier than normal after a long period of “bone-soaking rain.” School has ended for the summer. Daily, Billie finds herself alone in her room, as usual, her parents never there. When they are there, she is ashamed and afraid to speak up, doing so making her feel flat-out strange (after her mother makes one particularly hateful comment to Billie, she winces: “When she caught me off guard she could still make me wonder just when it was that she decided to stop taking care of me altogether”). After venturing out one day, she sees and hears no one, wondering why the town seems abandoned and feeling as if she might shrink. As she’s about to turn back for home, she sees and speaks to the neighbor across the street, Lydia Jenkins (“{s}he looked like every grandma in the world”) and learns that the town members are afraid the levee may break. Though everyone else seems to be off working to shore up levees against the river, Billie’s parents, Lydia tells her, are still working in the field every day, as always, Billie’s father having remembered that when the levee broke in ’51, there was enough time to sandbag before the water got to town. Eventually, Billie comes to learn that Miss Lydia is the only other person besides her family to stick around, and a friendship with her is born out of circumstance. 
And remember that next week will be 
And remember how we 
Don’t forget that the multi-blog 
Hi there. Just a quick note to tell you about yet another multi-blog event about books organized by 
Jules: We’re doing things up a little bit differently today here at 7-Imp. First of all, our apologies to Poetry Friday for the lack of a poem here this morning, but we’ll get back to it. We promise. Or, okay, to make it work, how about this: 
