Parents' Guide to

Dolores: Seven Stories About Her

By Matt Berman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Engrossing stories contain mature themes.

Book Bruce Brooks Coming of Age 2004
Dolores: Seven Stories About Her Poster Image

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What's the Story?

Dolores's life is told in seven vignettes as she grows up from ages seven to 16. Some of these stories have intense themes: At age seven, she is saved from would-be kidnappers who try to abduct her from a Wal-Mart store. And in the end she foils an attempted rape. Other stories involve a mean, popular girl who fails to make her miserable by spreading false rumors and a jerk at a party who has bragged that he will score with her that night.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

Two-time Newbery Honor author Bruce Brooks has written something similar -- a life told in a few vignettes -- far better in the breathtaking What Hearts, which got him one of his Newberys. Here the setups are too obviously designed to show us how wonderful the far-too-wonderful Dolores is, and everything, except for her relationship with her mother (and even there she gets off the best zingers), works out too neatly. She even has a heart-to-heart with a surprisingly introspective bully. Still, even in his weaker moments Brooks can write better than most authors at their best. The story is engaging and engrossing, peppered with the witty dialogue of smart kids, something in which the author specializes.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about short story collections. What do you like about them? What makes them more fun than other books -- and more difficult than other books?

  • The book begins and ends with a kidnapping. Why do you think the author chose to construct his book that way? What is the difference in how the two situations work out?

Book Details

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