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Title details for Life is Short and Then You Die by Kelley Armstrong - Wait list

Life is Short and Then You Die

Mystery Writers of America Presents First Encounters with Murder

by Kelley Armstrong
Graham Halstead
Audiobook
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Life Is Short and Then You Die is the Mystery Writers of America's first teen anthology, edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong. Adolescence is a time of "firsts." First kiss. First love. First loss. First job. The first taste of adult responsibilities, and the first look at an independent life away from both the restrictions and the security of home. And in this case, a very different type of "first": murder. This short story collection of murder mysteries adds a sinister spin to the joy and pain of firsts that have always been a major part of life, whether it be high school cliques who take the term "backstabbing" too seriously, stumbling upon a body on the way home from school, or receiving a Snapchat message that promises something deadly. Contributors include Barry Lyga, Caleb Roehrig, Emmy Laybourne, Jonathan Maberry, R.L. Stine, Rachel Vincent, Y.S. Lee, and more!

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 10, 2019

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781980057659
      • File size: 351331 KB
      • Duration: 12:11:56

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Lexile® Measure: 720
    • Text Difficulty: 3

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      This collection of short stories, written by members of The Mystery Writers of America, looks at teens facing their first exposure to murder, whether as perpetrator, victim, or witness. Graham Halstead and Laura Knight Keating alternate narrating duties depending on the gender of a story's speaker, bringing the variety of characters to life. In the opening story, Keating's voice goes from curiosity to anger as the narrator slowly realizes she's a victim--and who is responsible. In a later story, Halstead is believable as a young French Resistance fighter who must navigate an occupied town, uncover a mole, and avenge his father's death. The stories vary in quality, but the narrators give each one a unique voice. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 15, 2019
      Organized by crime and fantasy author Kelley Armstrong, this powerful anthology presents 18 short stories wherein teens’ first brushes with murder function as the fulcrum of life changes. Several selections involve murder’s aftermath, such as Y.S. Lee’s historical, lyrical “In Plain Sight,” inspired by a real-life female prisoner, and “Murder IRL” by Jeff Soloway, whose frank protagonist experiences severe acne, parental concern, and a killer in his virtual baseball league. Other contributions portray adolescents contemplating murder, as in Joseph S. Walker’s simmering “Gnat,” in which the eponymous victim of bullying captures a murder on camera and deliberates between justice and revenge, and in Barry Lyga’s darkly humorous “Six Ways to Kill Your Grandmother,” in which the teen son of a recently imprisoned serial killer considers how best to dispatch his senescent grandma. The authors chosen might have been more inclusive, and a few entries suffer from predictable twists (“The Boy in the Red Vans” by Rachel Vincent), uneven pacing (“Concealment” by Eileen Rendahl), and clunky dialogue (“Night of the Living Dog” by David Bart), but this anthology will nonetheless provide ample entertainment for young murder-mystery aficionados. Ages 15–up.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:720
  • Text Difficulty:3

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