PREJUDICE

Stories of varying quality selected to draw YAs into a consideration of prejudice and the possibility of transformation. Muse's first anthology is weighted toward material first published for adults, which includes the fine ``A Rice Sandwich'' by Sandra Cisneros, a short story by Jack Forbes, and an affecting excerpt from Ntozake Shange's courageous Betsey Brown. Far less effective are Flannery O'Connor's ``Revelation''—the most complex story in the collection will be hard for most teens to fathom—and Lois Gould's ``X,'' whose didacticism mixed with wit is dated, a relic from the heady days of the '70s feminist movement. The strongest material comes from YA writers: an excerpt from Fran Arrick's Chernowitz! (1981) and Marie Lee's Finding My Voice (1992); and works by Lynda Barry, Mavis Hara, Jacqueline Woodson and others. Who but Chris Crutcher, in ``A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune,'' could concoct story about a family that includes two sets of gay parents flavored with ``fat'' prejudice and come up with a heartfelt, bubblingly funny tale? Readers will identify with the sentiments uttered by Mitali Perkins's heroines in The Sunita Experiment (1993): ``It just makes me so mad I never noticed all this stuff before!'' and ``Welcome to the real world.'' (Anthology. 12+)