EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF

Ten male authors contribute stories for this collection about what it’s like to be a guy. The cover—two urinals in a men’s room—sets the tone for the volume, or indicates where it’s to be read. Guys navigate the cliques of high school social strata, go to the prom, stand up to the bad guys and prove themselves in various ways. Several entries have absentee mothers and struggling fathers and characters who find ways to take responsibility. Especially notable is Walter Dean Myers’s “The Prom Prize,” a funny and original take on the high school institution. Craig Thompson’s “Strange Powers” adds visual appeal to a fine graphic story of a boy’s encounters with jocks, nerds and girls. Those who read the volume all at once may feel awash in angst, but most pieces offer the hope of characters finding ways to take charge or stand up, and perhaps signal a hope they’ll grow into more successful adults than some portrayed here. A good companion to Jon Scieszka’s Guys Write for Guys Read (p. 481) (introduction, autobiographical sketches) (Anthology. YA)