Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town

December 1, 2020

Gr 7 Up-Dog-sledding in Alaska, enjoying ice cream on the beach in Washington, playing basketball in Montana-each short story in this collection, all set west of the Mississippi in rural areas, features characters with unique interests and situations. One character is juggling her grief and anger, another is chasing after a lost lover after receiving a postcard from him. The tales are all connected. For example, a minor character in one is the star in the next. There are darker threads too: missing girls and sexual predators; ambivalence between long-time friends and significant others; and the constant, crushing scrutiny everyone is under in sparsely populated areas. All of the stories take place in the 1990s, but characters often discuss and cope with topics that teenagers today would recognize, such as wildfires, avoiding straws to help the environment, and a skepticism of the media. This is also a good demonstration of the variation of small towns: Some feature gun-toting and pious characters, while others feature feminists who relate to the oceanic tides. Most characters in the collection are white, and there is one major character who is gay. VERDICT Recommended for libraries in rural areas as well as those with high readership of nature and true crime books.-Susan Elofson, Airport H.S., West Columbia, SC

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2021
Small-town teens across the American West experience heartbreak and healing in this linked short story collection. Set in 1995 and with locations ranging from Alaska to Colorado, nine teens' third-person narratives play out against the backdrop of an increasingly devastating wildfire and the disappearance of a young girl. Each story is peripheral to these two major events, immersing readers in the distinct experiences of each narrator: Gina grieves her dead mother; Kelsey questions her place in a basketball-obsessed town; Delia seeks revenge on the priest who abused her and her brother; Ben drives through the night to find Conrad, the boy he loves; and another young couple confronts the end of their relationship. Each narrative underscores the suffocating social expectations unique to their small rural communities, challenging the stereotype that nothing ever happens in them. Arranged in loose chronological order, the seemingly disparate stories contain overlapping secondary characters and locations, and Alaskan author Hitchcock uses small details of daily life to paint a strong sense of place and quirky characters. While some stories are stronger than others in terms of pacing, narrative voice, and character development, readers will enjoy deciphering how each connects to the wildfire and the missing girl. A White default is assumed. Illuminating. (content note) (Fiction. 13-18)

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