DOLORES

In this meticulously written short-story collection, Brooks chronicles the life of a singular young girl as she travels the rocky road from seven to sixteen. Symmetrical in that it starts out with her attempted kidnapping and ends with her attempted rape, Dolores copes with the breakup of her parents, spars with some school bullies, develops her own mode of cheerleading, bickers with her mother, and finally meets a young man worthy of her smarts and style. Articulate and opinionated, Dolores is a winning heroine, gifted with a fierce intelligence, a combative personality, and an unconventional turn of mind. Girls should admire the tough-minded Dolores, who at 12 speaks with a vocabulary and self-possession a woman of 40 could envy. And there’s the rub. Although Dolores is a fetching and fascinating creation, she’s such a poised and complete personality that she doesn’t seem to be quite of this earth. Few sixth-grade girls would coolly ask an enemy why “instead of coming over and asking a direct question, you . . . hang back and plan campaigns of malicious rumors.” Additionally, it’s not clear just who the author is writing for. For example, although the story “Ladies for Lunch” is both touching and trenchant, it reads like it’s a tale written for adults that just happens to have a child character in it. Still, Brooks wows the reader with his finely honed craft, piercing dry wit, and clever turn of phrase. (Fiction. 10+)