Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town: 1

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This is not actually a book of short stories, instead it is an elegant collection of story strands that allow the whole picture to be revealed from multiple perspectives. The stories are linked by the threads of the lives of the teenagers. In the first two stories – ‘ Angry Star Fish‘ and ‘ Pigeon Creek‘ we meet Poppy and Ruby who are sisters separated by the breakdown of their parents’ marriage. In ‘ Sea – Shaken Houses‘ we meet Jane and Martha. The girls have been best friends all their lives and are homeschooled but their “badass” mothers have a “strange dislike” for each other but at least they agree “that little girls should not be made to conform to anything that did not ebb and flow like the tide: their minds, at the very least, should run rampant along the beach”. Could the mothers’ dislike for each other be because the girls share the same father? Oh my goodness! Traveling between Alaskan woods to isolated, beautiful Pacific beaches and being introduced to vivid, original, quirky characters, diving into interesting, varied topics including wildfires, a mermaid, basketball bears gave me quality time . This was one of the reading experiences I’ve ever had! Indeed, the first few stories ‘Angry Starfish’, ‘Pigeon Creek’ and ‘Sea-Shaken Houses’ didn’t seem related, it is only as you read more you realise how connected everything is.

Meet the teenagers who live in the small towns across these states, separated by distance, but whose stories are woven together in the most unexpected of ways. Book Genre: Anthologies, Contemporary, Fiction, Historical, Historical Fiction, LGBT, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Short Stories, Young AdultThe author’s first novel, The Smell of Other People’s Houses, is one of my favorite books, and is a must-read. In Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town, we’re once again treated to her simple yet affecting approach to language, the realistic-feeling dialogue, and the tour of the inner workings of teen minds and hearts. The novel, much like her first, is written from a multi narrative perspective and maintains a strong sense of mystery throughout. This is a short, dark and heartbreaking read but beautifully written. There are many characters - even if you do not notice every connection instantly, each story acts as an important lesson for the reader. Highly recommended. I read these interlinked stories with increasing levels of anxiety for the characters and a growing sense of admiration for the author, as she charts the lives of the girls and boys involved as they try to navigate their way through a succession of crises not of their own making.

In fact, I finished the book feeling invigorated by the characters and amazed at how the author managed to weave such a story. It’s brilliant, unique, mind numbing! All those stories are missing pieces of the puzzle. You can read and enjoy them separately but as you realize the connections of them by catching the small details, you feel more satisfied and you adore the witty writing style of the author! The music video reached the top spot of CMT's Top Twenty Countdown for the week of August 16, 2007. Thank you to Netgalley and Wendy Lamb Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I didn’t want each story to end yet I appreciated the brisk pace which made me wonder how the stories would be resolved.

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As each ‘chapter’ contains a different protagonist you can be forgiven for wondering how this character or story relates to the others. I loved seeing the way the characters’ lives intersect and have impacts big and small on other characters’ lives, even when there’s no obvious connection. In fact, these characters for the most part will never know the threads that connect them, even though we as readers are treated to the bigger picture and have the pleasure of seeing where all theses lives overlap. Priests are not to be trusted. Father Lazaria’s serial abuse causes immense damage and is a narrative that runs through several of the stories. Delia’s parents “still expected her to go to church and receive Communion from Father Monster’s shrivelled, stinky hand” but at the age of sixteen, Delia wreaks her revenge which leads to devastating consequences.