Make Me Over: Eleven Stories of Transformation: Eleven Stories of Transformation

by Marilyn Singer

Overview

What kind of a makeover has the power to change a person, inside and out? These stories, specially written for this collection, delve into our culture’s fascination with beauty and present different views about all kinds of makeovers. Sometimes funny, sometimes serious, and always thought provoking, this anthology will open eyes and minds. Authors include Joseph Bruchac, Marina Budhos, Evelyn Coleman, Peni R. Griffin, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Norma Howe, Jess Mowry, René Saldaña, Jr., Marilyn Singer, Joyce Sweeney, and Terry Trueman.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440678271
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	09/22/2005
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	256 KB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Marilyn Singer is an award-winning author of more than 90 children's books in a wide variety of genres. She was the 2015 winner of the NCTE Excellence in Poetry for Children Award. She, her husband, and their standard poodle divide their time between Brooklyn and Litchfield County, Connecticut.

Editorial Reviews

Although the cover of Make Me Over: 11 Original Stories About Transforming Ourselves, ed. by Marilyn Singer, implies the hair and make-up type, many makeovers here include transformative experiences, as in Joyce Sweeney's "Some People Call Me Maurice," or the narrator of Terry Trueman's "Honestly, Truthfully" who vows to tell the truth-and learns its consequences. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

With a collage of headshots of "Barbie Doll" type young women on the jacket cover, at first glance this seems to be another beauty book aimed at teenage girls. This is a shame, because it is really much deeper than that. Containing eleven short stories by eleven different authors, including Margaret Peterson Haddix, Joseph Bruchac, and Joyce Sweeney among others, it is more about transforming and redefining oneself from the inside. And although there is not a male headshot in the bunch, the stories themselves could easily appeal to both male and female readers. In fact, teenage boys as protagonists are featured just as much as teenage girls. The subject matter of the stories in the collection is as varied as the authors who wrote them. It ranges from the laugh-a-minute adventures of a full blooded American teenage boy posing as a French exchange student, mangled English slang and all, to the more somber tale of a poor immigrant girl at Ellis Island who reluctantly endures the makeover efforts of a group of well-meaning, yet misguided Ladies Aide Society members. But regardless of the subject matter, each story deals with the universal teen themes of fitting in, peer pressure, and living up to others' expectations. And in one way or another, each teen hero comes to a new understanding and acceptance of self for the unique individual he or she is. 2005, Dutton Children's Books, Ages 12 up.
—Pat Trattles

Children's Literature

Gr 7 Up-These short stories by notable YA authors are not the typical Hollywood makeover magic to entrance and captivate the girl, or boy, next door. There are a few Cinderella-type stories, but just enough to keep teens turning the pages. Mostly, though, the selections reflect the vulnerability of teen relationships with family, friends, and strangers. In Ren Salda-a, Jr.'s "Not Much to It," Becky spent her high school years on the fringes of the popular group. Encouraged by one of the "in" girls to go to beautician school and capitalize on her hairstyling "gifts," she claims her vocation, but when the fickle girl reappears, the tension builds as Becky faces resurgent feelings of mockery and degradation. Marilyn Singer's "Bedhead Red, Peekaboo Pink" is about the budding romance between a boy who thinks he's ugly and a beautiful blind girl who doesn't want pity. Marina Budhos's "The Plan" is a complex story of a teen living the life of a chameleon, yo-yoing between lifestyles, names, and towns at the whim of his superficial mother obsessed with looking forever-young. In Evelyn Coleman's "Lucky Six," a teen assumes the role of surrogate mother to her siblings, living in a shelter, going to high school by day, and working as an exotic dancer by night. She hides her earnings from her drug-addict mother and plots her getaway from this scene. Sweet and spicy, tough and raw, these well-written stories will make a lasting impression on readers.-Alison Follos, North Country School, Lake Placid, NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

It isn't often that a book of short stories doesn't hold a clunker or two. Singer has avoided that pitfall with this superb collection. Every story is a winner. The combined talents of some of the finest YA writers, such as Margaret Peterson Haddix and Joyce Sweeney, spin 11 stories with a common theme: a makeover of some kind wherein the heroes find their own unique selves. From an avant-garde French club student to boys in the hood, and even including a lovesick owl, the entries dip into Native American storytelling as well as common high-school adolescent angst, ending with an affecting story of immigration. They have humor, drama, insight and heart-touching warmth, all delivering the moral for which every teen yearns: Yes, you can change; you can become better. A real joy from start to finish. (Fiction. 12+)

Kirkus Reviews