Set in the 1970s, the story concerns a girl and boy whose paths cross as they embark into adolescence. Two things stood out for me about this book. 1. The language is spare and perfect, and the voice perfectly captures the mind of a twelve-year old, trying to grasp the big picture from the handful of clues their brief life has presented them, so far. 2. For once, a story about tweens or teens in which none of the adults are behaving badly. No addictions, alcoholism, abuse, neglect, intrusion, etc etc. The parents are somewhat peripheral to the kids' lives, as is appropriate for their age, but they know they are there for them. There is an overall sense that life is confusing and plain weird sometimes, but in the end, things work out. Kids may be put off at first by the introspective mode of the storytelling and the somewhat slow pace (and alternation between narrators), but soon they will find themselves drawn into this world. Some readers (adult and kid) have complained initially that "nothing happens," but by the end you realize that a lot has happened. This is a wonderful book that will stay with any reader for a long time.

This is a great book for ages 11+ it's a little confusing..but in the end it is worth it! I enjoyed reading this book and relating to the characters..great book.

In this book i was truly amazed on it was an easy read but excelent. I Loved This Book!

This is an excellent way to introduce young readers to Criticism and post modern works. While some readers may dislike the book because there is no big climax, "Criss Cross" is a work with very relatable characters that any tween can understand. While anyone older than 15 may find this book boring, it'd probably be due to their age and how the book so accurately portrays them. There is such thing as being too close to a subject! Consider this book if you're looking to talk about the 1970s, about growing up, or teachers, use this post-modern work as a great introduction. So what if nothing really happens? Isn't that an accurate portrayal of real life?

It was absolutley beautiful.

This book sucked and isnt interesting and is all over the place i do not wish to reccomend this book to anyone im sorry if u have to read this!

I loved this book! I read a lot of books, but only really like a few of them. I'm 13 now, but I did read this when I was 7 or 8 and didn't like it or understand it. But I picked it up yesterday and well - here I am!!! I totally recommend this book!