Five: 08/07/08

"Five" by Julianna Baggott in American Girls About Town is very different in tone from the lighthearted "A Day in the Life of My Great Brit Book Tour" but both share the underlying theme of hope.

An ex-baton twirler from Kernersville, North Carolina makes the trip out to California to visit her sister and brother-in-law after divorcing her fourth husband. Although she loved each husband in her own way for their quirks and special talents, she hasn't felt enough of a connection to stay with any of them. She's afraid of becoming rooted in a boring and ordinary routine.

On the other hand, her sister seems infinitely patient. She is always waiting until the right moment. She is still married to her one and only husband and seems to have a successful and perfect life. In the trip westward, though, the younger sister will learn that not everything is easy to wait for.

On the first reading, I didn't like "Five" as much as "My Great Brit Book Tour." The narrator seemed too self absorbed and too willing to meddle in her sister's life. On a second reading, though, the story is sticking with me. It's a subtler tale that needs reflecting on.

The stories in the book are: (Click on a title to read reviews).

• "A Day in the Life of My Great Brit Book Tour" by Adriana Trigiani.
• "Five" by Julianna Baggott
• "Leaving a Light On" by Claire LaZebnik
• "Moving Day" Cindy Chupack
• "Yoga Babe" Lauren Henderson
• "The Truth About Nigel" by Jennifer Weiner
• "Voodoo Dolls, C-Cups and Eminem" by Melissa Senate
• "The Bamboo Confessions" by Lauren Weisberger
• "Amore" by Laura Wolf
• "Andromeda on the Street of Ducklings" by Judi Hendricks
• "Bad Manners" by Chris Manby
• "The Two-Month Itch" by Sarah Mlynowski
• "I Know a Woman" by Quinn Dalton
• "Just Visiting" by Nancy Sparling
• "Forty Days" by Jill Smolinski
• "The Uncertainty Principle" by Lynda Curnyn
• "Small Worlds" by Gretchen Laskas

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