Published by
Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers
September 2005
Book Description
Do we need cosmetic surgery, dental implants, and a new
wardrobe to improve our lives? Or can transformation
happen in other ways? What kind of a makeover has the
power to change a person, inside and out? These stories,
specially written for this collection, delve into our
culture's fascination with beauty and present different
views about all kinds of makeovers. Sometimes funny,
sometimes serious, and always thoughtprovoking, this
anthology will open eyes and minds. Authors include Joseph
Bruchac, Marina Budhos, Evelyn Coleman, Peni R. Griffin,
Margaret Peterson Haddix, Norma Howe, Jess Mowry, René
Saldaña, Jr., Marilyn Singer, Joyce Sweeney, and Terry
Trueman.
Reviews
Kirkus review: "Pointer Review"
It isn't often that a book of short stories doesn't hold a clunker or two. Singer has avoided that pitfall
with this superb collection. Every story is a winner. The combined talents of some of the finest YA writers, such as
Margaret Peterson Haddix and Joyce Sweeney, spin 11 stories with a common theme: a makeover of some kind wherin the heros
find their own unique selves. From an avant-garde French club student to boys in the hood, and even including a lovesick owl,
the entries dip into native American storytelling as well as common high-school adolescent angst, ending with an affecting
story of immigration. they have humor, drama, insight and heart-touching warmth, all delivering the moral for which
every teen yearns: Yes, you can change; you can become better. A real joy from start to finish.
Booklist:
Gr. 7-10. The teen years are rife with change, making transformation a
perfect theme for a short-story collection. An experienced anthologist, Singer
assembles another diverse, solid group of stories--from Joyce Sweeney's humorous
look at a boy whose self-esteem gets a boost from his posing as a French
exchange student to Margaret Peterson Haddix's sobering peek at an immigrant's
Ellis Island makeover at the hands of the Ladies' Aid Society. Some of the
conversions are more literal, as in Bruchac's first-person account of an Abenaki
folk hero, Wabi, an owl that becomes a person. Several are prompted by
romantic involvement, such as Norma Howe's story in which a character changes his
chaotic lifestyle and cleans his room because of a girl. And a few of the
changes are life-saving: Evelyn Coleman's teen exotic dancer, for example, uses
her earnings to escape a drug-addicted mother. Readers tired of reality-TV
makeovers will rejoice in the characters that use transformation to find their
true selves. Cindy Dobrez
"Pointer Review"