Book Reviews by Carol Neeland for LS 5603: Literature for Children and Young Adults

Summary:

Criss Cross tells the story of a group of childhood friends on the verge of becoming adults. The two main narrators are Debbie and Hector who are both 14 years old. The book is composed of short, reflective vignettes which tell many stories but there is not one connecting plot throughout.

Critical Analysis: 

Criss Cross is a refreshing change from YA novels that focus on action, violence, and troubled teens. Debbie, Hector, and their friends live in middle class, suburban Seldem, a fictional town that we might assume is located in the Midwest as it is far away and very different from California. All of the characters are struggling with the issues that middle class suburban teens struggle with but none of them is struggling with issues like drugs, alcohol, abuse, rape, sex or even divorce. Without overtly stating it, the book shows that middle class kids in the suburbs have issues with growing up just like poor kids and inner city kids have. 

Throughout the book, philosophical thoughts are juxtaposed against humorous ones: 

“Maybe corrected vision wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Maybe in ancient times, when distinct edges were unknown to many people, he would have been considered handsome. Though he might have had a lot of headaches.” (p. 8) 

“The reason they were changing their clothes in a rhododendron bush was cultural evolution. Both of them had mothers who were stranded in the backwaters of a bygone era, and who were unable to grasp many current trends and ideas. You could argue and argue, but they weren’t going to get it. At some point you just had to go change your clothes in a bush.” (p. 44) 

In many books it seems as if the author is forcing himself to use figurative language because he knows that he should. Similes, metaphors, and other figurative language are woven so expertly into this book that the language just flows naturally: 

“It was a dark night, and Rowanne was a tentative driver. Being in a car with her as she felt her way over the winding back roads was like being inside a flashlight held by someone searching for a contact lens.” (p. 20) 

“He began to suspect, though, that Russell’s thoughts were not gathering at all, that if they even existed, they were wandering through his head like lurching strangers on a moving train. If any two of them met up, it would be purely accidental.” (p. 81-82)  

One of the most unique features of the book is that so many different styles are used. There is a chapter that uses haikus, one based on a manual for a plumbing wrench, and one in which Debbie and Lenny’s reading material, thoughts, and actions are shown opposite each other in columns. I was particularly impressed with the haikus because every American kid reads and writes haikus in school. It was perfectly believable that a couple of girls would make up haikus when looking at the yearbook. In another unusual chapter, Debbie reads sections of a pamphlet from the sanitary napkin company: 

“Some of the information was not very modern, since the pamphlet was thirty or forty years old. It talked a lot about being modern, though, and how lucky a thing it was to be modern. It seemed to suggest that emergence from the Dark Ages had been recent, a narrow escape facilitated largely by the sanitary napkin industry.” (p. 179) 

For children and teenagers who are just discovering the world, humor and wisdom can be found everywhere. Criss Cross shows the natural instinct of teenagers to look around them to try to find their place. During this discovery, both Debbie and Hector are slightly sarcastic and self-deprecating in a way that makes them seem human and believable rather than obnoxious or whiney. They are likeable characters that kids can identify with.  

The radio show “Criss Cross,” which gives the book its title, is a metaphor for the lives of the characters. They all grew up together but are starting to go their own separate ways. As they are coming into adulthood, choosing paths, and understanding their sexuality, they are starting to drift apart. The weekly “Criss Cross” gatherings at Lenny’s truck bring them all together. During this time they can relax and be themselves. 

The last few lines of the book sum up the theme beautifully: 

“It felt like there were a lot of personalities sitting there in the grass. Separate in their thoughts, but together, too.  

Someone opened the jar. The lightning bugs knew what to do. They flew out into the night air, every last one. Blinking, ‘Here I am.’” (p. 337) 

Review Excerpt: 

The author of the popular All Alone in the Universe (HarperCollins, 1999) returns with another character study involving those moments that occur in everyone’s life-moments when a decision is made that sends a person along one path instead of another… There is a great deal of humor in this gentle story about a group of childhood friends facing the crossroads of life and how they wish to live it. 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. The book is profusely illustrated with Perkins’s amusing drawings and some photographs.
-B. Allison Gray, John Jermain Library, Sag Harbor, NY 

Connections: 

One of the intriguing storylines that runs throughout the book is that of Debbie’s necklace and its journey from her neck, to the grass, to the car, to Dan’s pocket, to the street, to Hector’s pocket, and back to Debbie. The necklace may have been destined to bring Hector and Debbie together and it almost succeeds but, “their moments were separated by about a second. Maybe only half a second. Their paths crossed, but they missed each other. The hardworking necklace couldn’t believe it. It let out an inaudible, exasperated gasp.” (p. 335-6) 

Readers might enjoy mapping the travels and experiences of the necklace. If they made a chart showing all of the places it has been, with whom, and what the person was thinking during his/her time with the necklace, it would reveal that all the characters are connected together even when they weren’t in the same place. 

Another extension idea would be to have students discuss the chapter during which Hector and Rowanne listen to the guitar player at the coffeehouse. Hector could just as easily have made the decision to stay home and order a pizza but the decision to go to the coffeehouse changed Hector’s life forever. Students could reflect on their own lives and write about or share some defining moments that changed their lives and shaped who they are. 

Expanding on the theme of defining moments in people’s lives, readers could watch parts of the 1998 movie Sliding Doors. The movie is rated R so it would need to be carefully screened and would definitely be more appropriate for High School than Middle School. In the movie, Helen Quilley goes to the Underground to catch the train. Suddenly, her life splits into two. In one version of her life she catches the train and in the second she misses it. Her whole life changes in that second and throughout the rest of the film we see what would have happened in each scenario.  

Comparing the movie to those defining sections of the book would be fascinating: 

What if Hector hadn’t gone to the coffeehouse?
What if the Pastor hadn’t heard Hector suggest to Meadow that they go for ice cream?
What if Dan had found the necklace in his pocket and given it to Debbie?
What if Mrs. Bruning had never gotten sick?
What if Hector and Debbie had had their moments of attraction to each other at the same time? 

Finally, the most obvious connection would be to read Lynne Rae Perkins’ companion novel to Criss Cross, All Alone in the Universe. We do not have a copy of it here in our library but I will be reading it when we return to the
U.S. this summer. 

Bibliographic Data:

Allison Gray. “Criss Cross” School Library Journal (2005), http://reviews.schoollibraryjournal.com/bd.aspx?isbn=0060092734&pub=sl  (accessed April 19, 2008).

Perkins, Lynne Rae. Criss Cross. New York: Greenwillow Books, 2005. ISBN Number: 0-06-009273-4

Tunnell, Michael, and James S. Jacobs. Children’s Literature, Briefly. 3 ed. Columbus: Pearson Education, 2004.

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