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Summary and Reviews of Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins

Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio

Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins

Criss Cross

by Lynne Rae Perkins
  • Critics' Consensus (6):
  • Readers' Rating (23):
  • First Published:
  • Sep 1, 2005, 368 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jan 2008, 368 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Book Summary

The story of a group of childhood friends facing the crossroads of life and how they should live it, seen mainly from the point of view of 14-year-old Debbie who wishes something would happen to make her a different person and Hector who feels he is unfinished. Winner of the 2006 Newbery Medal.

She wished
something
would happen.

Something good.

To her.

Looking at the bright, fuzzy picture in the
magazine, she thought, Something like that.

Checking her wish
for loopholes,
she found one.

Hoping it wasn't
too late, she thought
the word soon.

Winner of the 2006 Newbery Medal.

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  • award image

    John Newbery Medal
    2006

Reviews

Media Reviews

KLIATT - Myrna Marler
This is not a novel for those addicted to adrenaline, but rewards those who patiently explore the story's treasures.

Booklist - Gillian Engberg
Starred Review. Best of all are the understated moments, often private and piercing in their authenticity, that capture intelligent, likable teens searching for signs of who they are, and who they'll become.

School Library Journal - B Allison Gray
Starred Review. Young teens will certainly relate to the self-consciousnesses and uncertainty of all of the characters, each of whom is straining toward clarity and awareness. Grades 6-9

Kirkus Reviews
A tenderly existential work that will reward more thoughtful readers in this age of the ubiquitous action saga. Fiction. 12-16.

Publishers Weekly
Part love story, part coming-of-age tale, this book artfully expresses universal emotions of adolescence. Ages 10+

Children's Literature - Mary Loftus
[Debbie] meanders through her tale, and by its end she has neither changed nor learned anything new. The reader will wish something had happened, too.

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Read-Alikes

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If you liked Criss Cross, try these:

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