Not Like I'm Jealous or Anything

April 1, 2006
Gr 9 Up -Short stories, essays, and a poem about the green monster. The highlight is a pair of essays: -The Driver: Me and Marty Beckerman - by Ned Vizzini and -Why I'm Jealous of Ned Vizzini - by -you guessed it -Marty Beckerman. Dyan Sheldon presents the most serious take on the topic with a tale of an abusively controlling boyfriend, and E. Lockhart delights with another hilarious Ruby Oliver escapade à la "The Boyfriend List" (Delacorte, 2005). Other contributions include an angst-ridden confessional of how jealousy ruined the author's teen years, a story of love destroyed by jealousy of a car, two well-written forays into the topic of sibling rivalry, and several less-memorable pieces. As a collection, however, the book does a good job of examining various aspects of an emotion (and character-driving literary device) rarely approached directly in YA literature. Back matter includes dictionary definitions of -jealousy - and -envy - and lists of books and online articles about the topic, and of other things green. An entertaining read and a good invitation to introspection. -"Rhona Campbell, Washington DC Public Library"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2006
Gr. 7-10. Imagine! Six short stories, four essays, one quiz, and one poem--an entire book focused on jealousy--and it works! Jealousy of the rich and privileged; jealousy of a boyfriend's new car; jealousy of another's talent, beauty, boyfriend, or goodness. Emotions we have all encountered are verbalized in this well-chosen collection. With the exception of Jaclyn Moriarty, the authors are not as recognizable as those featured in most YA short-story collections, but they are no less talented. Walsh has chosen just the right mix of situations and characters to make readers slightly uncomfortable. Somewhere within these pages our own green streaks lurk, and seeing them exposed will bring about a wry smile, a shudder, or a philosophical sigh.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)