The Color of Absence : 12 Stories About Loss and Hope

"In adolescence we feel our losses as if for the first time, with a greater depth of pain and drama than we are aware of having experienced ever before," says James Howe in his introduction to this stunning collection of short stories in which some of today's most celebrated authors of fiction for young adults explore the many faces of loss - the common thread they share and the hope that is born through change.

You're Not a Winner Unless Your Picture's in the Paper ? Avi

Red Seven ? C.b. Christiansen

Enchanted Night ? James Howe

Atomic Blue Pieces ? Angela Johnson

Summer of Love ? Annette Curtis Klause

The Tin Butterfly ? Norma Fox Mazer

Season's End ? Walter Dean Myers

Shoofly Pie ? Naomi Shihab Nye

The Fire Pond ? Michael J. rosen

What Are You Good At? ? Roderick Townley

Chair ? Virginia Euwer Wolff

The Rialto ? Jacqueline Woodson and Chris Lynch

Virginia Euwer Wolff (Make Lemonade, Bat 6) sums up the essence of the 12 stories in The Color of Absence: "One of the things that interests me most about loss is that often, while we are being swept away by losing something, we are gaining something else that totally surprises us." A dozen young adult authors look at this paradox in all its guises as it touches young lives, in this collection of short fictional pieces edited by James Howe. Two of the stories are extraordinary--Wolff's own "Chair," which dramatizes the heartbreaking descent into Alzheimer's over three visits between an old man and his great-grandson, and Annette Curtis Klause's delicate and astonishingly moving tale of a vampire who rediscovers love through the affection and death of a small cat. Knowledgeable fans of young adult literature will be intrigued by the unlikely collaboration of Jacqueline Woodson and Chris Lynch in "The Rialto," an excerpt from a novel in progress. Walter Dean Myers, Avi, Angela Johnson, Norma Fox Mazer, Naomi Shihab Nye, and other authors explore losses ranging from a stolen bicycle to a father dying of AIDS. Young readers of a variety of ages and temperaments are sure to find at least a couple of stories here to touch their hearts. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell