Break These Rules
35 YA Authors on Speaking Up, Standing Out, and Being Yourself
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- £8.49
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- £8.49
Publisher Description
Middle grades and young adult authors speak candidly on the unspoken “rules” of adolescence in this collection of moving, inspiring, and often funny essays. This unique volume encourages readers to break with conformity and defy age-old, and typically inaccurate, orthodoxy—including such conventions as Boys can’t be gentle, kind, or caring; One must wear Abercrombie & Fitch in order to fit in; Girls should act like girls; and One must go to college after finishing high school. With contributions from acclaimed, bestselling, and award-winning young adult authors—including Gary D. Schmidt, author of The Wednesday Wars; Matthew Quick, author of The Silver Linings Playbook; Sara Zarr, author of Story of a Girl; and Wendy Mass, author of A Mango-Shaped Space—this collection encourages individuality by breaking traditionally held norms, making it an ideal resource for tweens and teens.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
From "Never Talk About Religion" (Sara Zarr) to "Boys Don't Cry" (Chris Lynch), 35 writers contribute essays titled by "rules" for teens to break or ignore. Editor Reynolds proves he's not above rule breaking, too: despite the subtitle, several contributors (Rob Buyea, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, and Mike Jung, among others) are technically middle-grade authors. Much of the advice from rejecting conventional standards of beauty to not worrying about fitting in may be familiar to many readers, though that doesn't make it any less sound. In the strongest entries, the writers use examples of their own past struggles to subtly drive home their messages. Matthew Quick is honest about the nervousness, and rewards, that come with leaving one's comfort zone; Gary D. Schmidt describes a moment of betrayal and awakening in a church youth group; Margo Rabb hilariously imagines Georgia O'Keeffe as a guest on What Not to Wear ("Go to hell," the artist tells the hosts, before hopping on a motorcycle to New Mexico, "where she can wear whatever she likes"). Thanhha Lai perhaps puts it best: "There is no rule to follow; there is no rule to break. You follow and break rules just by the act of living." Proceeds from the sale of the book benefit the Children's Defense Fund. Ages 12 up.
