Book Review: CRISS CROSS
*NOTE: This review was created for a class at TWU.

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Perkins, Lynne Rae. 2005. CRISS CROSS. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0060092726

2. PLOT SUMMARY:
The Newbery Award-winning novel CRISS CROSS weaves a story of interconnected lives and moments of missed meaning. The main character, Debbie, and her group of friends all sense that they are on the verge of something, yet feel that nothing ever happens in their small world, centered around the town of Seldem. Each of them is constantly changing and growing, taking in new experiences like a sponge, especially Debbie. She learns to fix a sink, drive a stick shift, pop the clutch to start a dead battery, and stave off an elderly neighbor's diabetic episode with orange juice and sugar, and in one synchronicitous morning, she must do all of these things, leading her to also find, for three brief days, what might be love with Peter. But life goes on, her love returns to California, and Debbie and her friends connect and miss connections all over again.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
The Russian writer Marina Tsvetaeva once said that poets don't compose poetry, they just tune their inner antennae to the cosmos and let it fill them up. But the question arises, while you're tuned into the cosmos, what are you missing on earth? In much the same way, the characters in Lynn Rae Perkins' realistic young adult novel, CRISS CROSS, are, at various times, tuned into new experiences that shape their developing identities, while missing other connections that might have profoundly impacted them. The author's language, illustrations, and multi-genre format reinforce both the coming-of-age story and pondering of concepts such as fate, destiny, and man's own inability to be "tuned in" to life.

While on one level CRISS CROSS meditates upon philosophical questions of existence and the meaning of life, it is ultimately a realistic novel of growing up that bears the hallmarks of the best of today's young adult literature. First, the novel is written from the viewpoint of young people and details their struggles to become independent. Debbie, Hector and all their friends could live right down the street from any of us, and their struggles to begin to define themselves, such as changing clothes on the way to school, learning to play guitar, ditching their glasses, and letting their hair grow out, can be seen on any high school campus today. This urgent need to be different from the children their parents still saw them as is described as "cultural evolution," away from "mothers who were stranded in the backwaters of a bygone era" and who weren't "going to get it" no matter how much you argued. In her gently humorous way, Debbie resolves the problem by stating, "At some point you just had to go change your clothes in a bush."

The gentle and humorous narrative style points to another characteristic of quality young adult literature; CRISS CROSS is not didactic. The adolescents in the novel do have moments of insight and grapple with important emotions, but they stay in character, not dwelling or lecturing, but moving on to the next event in their lives. When Hector is chastised by Patty for not recognizing that girls like boys for their looks, just as boys like girls for their looks, he reflects that he "saw what she was getting at, but he didn't think it applied. He liked Meadow for her inner beauty. Which happened, in her case, to be accompanied by outer beauty. He thought her outer beauty might even be a result of her inner beauty. A time honored line of reasoning that encompasses both truth and quicksand." Hector goes on to hope his own inner beauty was visible from the outside, commenting, "I'm a hunk in my soul." The prose balances insight and humor to both address and assuage the fears and concerns that can sometimes overwhelm adolescents.

Finally, the real genius in Perkins' book lies in the way the multi-genre structure supports the story. This structural support is particularly evident in two themes: the idea that we are more or less "tuned in" to life at certain times, and the idea that although we sometimes miss connections, if those connections are meant to be made, they will be made at another time. The first concept is embodied by the term "satori," which comes from Zen Buddhism and is loosely defined as a moment of individual enlightenment. Though this concept may seem esoteric, it is made approachable in the second chapter when Hector is taken out of his usual surroundings and joins his sister in a coffeehouse to listen to music. Perkins writes, "He didn't realize he was in a sponge state but, having been separated from his moorings - couch, TV, pizza - and led into unfamiliar territory, there was a spongy piece of him left open and receptive to the universe in whatever form it might take, and the form it took was a guitar." Later, this state is described as satori, "a mystical, wordless moment of understanding about Music and Life..." and illustrated with photographs of the Civic Arena's roof opening when the weather clears, beautifully representing the abstract concept in concrete detail. Visual representation of an emotional state is exemplified in Chapter 22, "Wuthering Heights/Popular Mechanics" where the entire chapter is placed on the page in the form of two columns, the left hand column bearing Debbie's experience, and the right-hand column simultaneously describing Lenny's experience, which is frustratingly parallel, but off by moments, resulting in the two characters missing a chance to connect with one another by a paragraph.

Other states and emotions are explored through haiku, fable, script, and cartoon, creating a layered effect which belies the surface simplicity of the spare prose and, with the exception of the day Debbie saved Mrs. Bruning from a diabetic seizure, mundane events. And, ultimately, that may be the lesson to be learned from CRISS CROSS. Things are not as they appear on the surface, and missed opportunities may come again, because, although we fail to connect all the time, if we keep "tuning in" to the universe, we will connect and achieve moments of satori. Achieving individual enlightenment, however fleeting, brings us to a final characteristic of outstanding young adult literature - optimism. CRISS CROSS is optimistic. The novel ends with lightning bugs blinking their "Here I am," ready to make the next connection, achieve satori, and maybe even true love, encouraging the reader to follow nature's lead and continue to let her light shine. Taken together, the realism, depth of thought, optimism, and structural complexity of CRISS CROSS combine to create a Newbery-worthy novel.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
School Library Journal: (Starred Review) "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."

Booklist: (Starred Review) "...most readers will find their contemporaries in these characters. 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."

5. CONNECTIONS & STRATEGIES
*At the high school level, this novel could be studied in conjunction with other books or stories that call into question whether there is such a thing as "destiny" or are we simply buffeted by series of coincidental events? Is there a greater plan? In groups, students could list the "near misses" and "coincidences" in the novel, and develop an argument as to whether they think the author, Lynne Rae Perkins, is arguing that there is true love out there, and, in spite of many near misses, it will find you, or that we're all just victims of happenstance. Then, looking at it from a philosophical point-of-view, students could read some of the stories in COINCIDENCE OR DESTINY? STORIES OF SYNCHRONICITY THAT ILLUMINATE OUR LIVES (ISBN 157324824X) and take their own stand on the issue, using the stories as evidence. Or, looking at it from a "scientific" standpoint, they could read A LITTLE BOOK OF COINCIDENCE (ISBN 0802713882), which guides the reader through the solar system, pointing out beautiful patterns in nature, and leading to the question, could something so beautiful and perfect, just be chance?

* CRISS CROSS would be an excellent selection when looking at multi-genre writing. Avi's book, NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH (ISBN 038071907X) would be another good novel to use as a mentor text for multi-genre writing. Students could then try their own hand at writing about the same subject through different genres. It's an excellent way to discuss purposes for writing and point-of-view. A teacher's resource book for approaching multi-genre writing in the classroom is Tom Romano's BLENDING GENRE, ALTERING STYLE: WRITING MULTI-GENRE PAPERS (ISBN 0867094788).