Short stories offer an excellent way to get teenagers reading. While this collection has little action and thus may not appeal to many reluctant readers, its sensitive views about growing up in families do appeal to more avid readers. In two of the stories, "The Moustache" and "Guess What? I Almost Kissed My Father Goodnight," boys realize that their parents are individual people just as the boys are.

Two stories deal with prejudice. In "Protestants Cry, Too" a Catholic boy wants to marry a Protestant girl and must contend with his father's resolute rejection. In "My First Negro" a white boy who makes friends with a black boy learns about prejudice firsthand, when his friends attack the boy's family. Discovered, he has no chance to explain, and knows he's lost his friend forever.

Perhaps the most heartwarming of the stories is "President Cleveland, Where Are You?" in which a boy and his friends become obsessed with collecting trading cards of presidents during the Depression. His older brother wants to take a girl to the dance, but has no money for shoes and a corsage for his girl. The boy sells his cherished President Cleveland card, and his brother goes to the dance. Readers must infer what has happened.

As with most collections of short stories, readers will enjoy some more than others. Other short-story collections for teens include Carol Dines's Talk to Me, Hazel Rochman's Leaving Home, and John Loughery's First Sightings. For an anthology with more action that may attract reluctant readers, see Lois Duncan's Night Terrors.