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Sudden Flash Youth: 65 Short-Short Stories
A unique collection. The only anthology of short-short stories to focus on youth. In these stories of no more than 1000 words, well-known and emerging American authors spotlight crucial moments of change during coming-of-age. Their young protagonists face matters of great consequence, such as the death of a parent, unwanted pregnancy, and bullying, as well as lighter, if perplexing how to hold a prom when being home-schooled; what to do when the babysitter suddenly sees the Rapture. The stories are of this moment--a girl who falls in love and then is pressured to lose her virginity in a cyberspace world--and they also remember the the Nixon era, the Vietnam War, slavery. Here is a glimpse into the way we live now from the point of view of those who will determine the future. Among the contributors are Steve Almond, Peter Bacho, Richard Bausch, Gayle Brandeis, Richard Brautigan, Ron Carlson, Kelly Cherry, Dave Eggers, Pia Z. Ehrhardt, Jim Heynen, Victor Lavalle, Meg Kearney, Naomi Shihab Nye, Maryann O'Hara, Sonia Pilcer, Pamela Painter, Bruce Holland Rogers, Robert Shapard, and Alice Walker.
224 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 2011
16 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Christine Perkins-Hazuka
1 bookChristine Perkins-Hazuka has taught English in public and private secondary schools for more than thirty years.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
January 22, 2012
I’m starting to like short stories more and more. They are very refreshing, especially after a big book. However, I have never read a collection like this one. The stories are so short that I found myself wondering how the writers managed to express an idea in so very few words. And because the stories are so short, some of them only half a page or even less, the connection with the reader is made quickly, with detailed paragraphs which drew me in from the very first words.
In Heartland, by Daphne Beal, there’s a striking paragraph with an amazing contrast:
“In New Orleans, the air has body it’s so thick. It’s only March, but as we ride from the airport past houses that look like someone’s taken a baseball bat to them, trees burst with white and pink blossoms, unabashed, and strange beauty is everywhere.”
Little Brother, by Bruce Holland Rogers, is a story about a boy getting a little brother as a Christmas present. But as innocent as that may sound, it really wasn’t, and as the story progressed I had the feeling that something was wrong. Not until the last sentence did I get to find out what it was and I have to admit, that was unexpected and unsettling. This was my favorite story.
Currents, by Hannah Bottomy Voskuil, is an unusual story in the way it’s told – like playing a video of a wave in reverse – I read it once and then again, backwards. I wonder if the author wrote it using the normal sequence of events and then just rewrote it starting with the end.
Accident, by Dave Eggers, is, most of all, an emotional encounter. The collision of two cars makes the driver of one of them aware of something missing in his life: a connection with people.
Bullhead, by Leigh Allison Wilson, is about a woman remembering a long lost love. She not only remembers it but clings to the memory with the desperation of one who lives in a fantasy world. I loved the last paragraph:
“Every story is true and a lie. The true part of this one is: Love and the memory of love can’t be drowned. The lie part is that this is a good thing.”
After He Left, by Matt Hlinak, one of the shortest stories in the book, is about half a page long. The strangest thing about it is that on my way home I saw a dead sparrow – just like the girl in the story – and when I did, my thoughts flew back to the words on that half page and I saw it too, the world moving fast, impatient and oblivious to life and its endings.
Forgotten, by Anne Mazer, captures the essence of childhood play so beautifully:
“All day they followed paths, forded streams, and climbed trees. They discovered countries, crossed oceans and desserts, explored jungles teeming with life. They were animal and human, villain and hero, rich and poor, fearless and timid. They were born and died hundreds of times. New races of people spilled from their fingers. They tunneled under mountains, built and destroyed worlds, flew to the moon and sun, and reached the beginnings and ends of time.”
There are many more wonderful stories in the book but I’m not going to run through all. Some of them, like the ones mentioned above, struck a chord with me; others I enjoyed for their flow, or characters or the rhythm of the words.
Every story in the book centers on childhood or adolescence: fragments of life seen through a youngster’s eyes, a first love, the lure of the virtual world, teen pregnancy, the loss of a parent, a birthday celebration. Stories tied with emotion, loss, love and regret, stories about a time we all went through. Stories that made me remember my own childhood, summer days spent lying under a tree on a blanket with a book in my hands, golden plums I ate half-peeled pretending they were ice-cream, the smell of grass and of a big black dog with a spatter of white on its chest who found its untimely death under the wheels of a car.
A very good book that I will certainly read again. I already went back to reread some of the stories and they were just as good as the first time.
In Heartland, by Daphne Beal, there’s a striking paragraph with an amazing contrast:
“In New Orleans, the air has body it’s so thick. It’s only March, but as we ride from the airport past houses that look like someone’s taken a baseball bat to them, trees burst with white and pink blossoms, unabashed, and strange beauty is everywhere.”
Little Brother, by Bruce Holland Rogers, is a story about a boy getting a little brother as a Christmas present. But as innocent as that may sound, it really wasn’t, and as the story progressed I had the feeling that something was wrong. Not until the last sentence did I get to find out what it was and I have to admit, that was unexpected and unsettling. This was my favorite story.
Currents, by Hannah Bottomy Voskuil, is an unusual story in the way it’s told – like playing a video of a wave in reverse – I read it once and then again, backwards. I wonder if the author wrote it using the normal sequence of events and then just rewrote it starting with the end.
Accident, by Dave Eggers, is, most of all, an emotional encounter. The collision of two cars makes the driver of one of them aware of something missing in his life: a connection with people.
Bullhead, by Leigh Allison Wilson, is about a woman remembering a long lost love. She not only remembers it but clings to the memory with the desperation of one who lives in a fantasy world. I loved the last paragraph:
“Every story is true and a lie. The true part of this one is: Love and the memory of love can’t be drowned. The lie part is that this is a good thing.”
After He Left, by Matt Hlinak, one of the shortest stories in the book, is about half a page long. The strangest thing about it is that on my way home I saw a dead sparrow – just like the girl in the story – and when I did, my thoughts flew back to the words on that half page and I saw it too, the world moving fast, impatient and oblivious to life and its endings.
Forgotten, by Anne Mazer, captures the essence of childhood play so beautifully:
“All day they followed paths, forded streams, and climbed trees. They discovered countries, crossed oceans and desserts, explored jungles teeming with life. They were animal and human, villain and hero, rich and poor, fearless and timid. They were born and died hundreds of times. New races of people spilled from their fingers. They tunneled under mountains, built and destroyed worlds, flew to the moon and sun, and reached the beginnings and ends of time.”
There are many more wonderful stories in the book but I’m not going to run through all. Some of them, like the ones mentioned above, struck a chord with me; others I enjoyed for their flow, or characters or the rhythm of the words.
Every story in the book centers on childhood or adolescence: fragments of life seen through a youngster’s eyes, a first love, the lure of the virtual world, teen pregnancy, the loss of a parent, a birthday celebration. Stories tied with emotion, loss, love and regret, stories about a time we all went through. Stories that made me remember my own childhood, summer days spent lying under a tree on a blanket with a book in my hands, golden plums I ate half-peeled pretending they were ice-cream, the smell of grass and of a big black dog with a spatter of white on its chest who found its untimely death under the wheels of a car.
A very good book that I will certainly read again. I already went back to reread some of the stories and they were just as good as the first time.
April 27, 2015
This collection of short stories addresses the theme of childhood/youth experience. Most selections are shorter than 2,000 words, and there is a well-chosen range of writers from Richard Brautigan to several first time published writers. The quality of all the selections is quite good, and the styles of writing range from the "realistic" to post-modern, but the criterion for selection for the anthology seems to be quality, which is quite refreshing.
January 29, 2018
I picked this book up hoping it would give me some good material to teach to my 10th graders. It served that role perfectly. Virtually every story in the collection is teach-able, and would hold the interest of HS students. I strongly prefer this volume to _MicroFiction: An Anthology of Really Short Stories_ by Jerome Stern. Most of the stories in Stern's volume were really confusing. This stories in this volume are much more accessible, while still being subtle--there's still plenty to unpack/analyze. Furthermore, all of the protagonists of the stories are young people, which means that they are relevant to young readers.
October 19, 2012
When planning over the summer for the creative writing elective that I am teaching this year, I noticed this collection on amazon.The pieces, which are between one and four pages in length are well chosen literature shorts. My student enjoyed them, and any of the pieces will fit nicely into a short story unit.
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June 15, 2020Some gems. Great for a classroom. Can be read and discussed in one class.
June 13, 2021
The thing about flash fiction, I've learned, is that it's good in little bits. Reading too many flash fiction stories at a time can be detrimental. There's not enough time to consider the characters, or let all the stories sink in, and there's too much time to recognize the formulas, which can quickly wear thin.
This particular collection is meant for young adult readers and aims to display a variety of angles of adolescence. And, in this regard, it largely succeeds, showcasing stories about various religions, relationships, sex, school, body images, and growing up in general.
The best story is a classic: Alice Walker's "The Flowers," which depicts the loss of innocence in a quick, subtle, and profound way. Although, generally my favorites were the stories that went for a laugh. Often, they would describe a universal moment of ignorance or a mistake relatable to us all.
Others had a good message and compelling components but just couldn't tie those things together in a fitting way in such a short amount of time. "The Engines of Sodom" by Jonathan Papernick is a good example. There was a real opportunity here to merge youth culture with old school Jewish identity, but it just doesn't happen in a satisfying way.
Overall, though, there were just too many stories I couldn't find myself caring about. Maybe next time I should slow down and take more time to consider each one.
This particular collection is meant for young adult readers and aims to display a variety of angles of adolescence. And, in this regard, it largely succeeds, showcasing stories about various religions, relationships, sex, school, body images, and growing up in general.
The best story is a classic: Alice Walker's "The Flowers," which depicts the loss of innocence in a quick, subtle, and profound way. Although, generally my favorites were the stories that went for a laugh. Often, they would describe a universal moment of ignorance or a mistake relatable to us all.
Others had a good message and compelling components but just couldn't tie those things together in a fitting way in such a short amount of time. "The Engines of Sodom" by Jonathan Papernick is a good example. There was a real opportunity here to merge youth culture with old school Jewish identity, but it just doesn't happen in a satisfying way.
Overall, though, there were just too many stories I couldn't find myself caring about. Maybe next time I should slow down and take more time to consider each one.
September 30, 2020
This collection offers stories about growing up in America and each story contains a protagonist who is under the age of majority. It targets the pivotal moments of growing up, the times when the mind undergoes a moment of clarity or change. Each of these stories is a flash fiction story and is under a thousand words. This would be a great book for teachers to use in the classroom especially those teaching creative writing. One of my favorite stories was Corporal by Richard Brautigan. It is about collecting paper during World war II, but it is really about the haves and the have-nots. Many of these stories will leave the reader thinking.
August 12, 2018
Some of the stories really didn't do anything for me, but others were gorgeous and haunting. I definitely have some new authors to check out.
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October 26, 2022"Every story is true and a lie. The true part of this one is: Love and the memory of love can't be drowned. The lie part is that this is a good thing." - Leigh Allison Wilson, "Bullhead"
dnf-partial-read
January 21, 2023Another book I intended to read more of, but only read the Dave Eggers two-pager.
February 24, 2016
When I read New Sudden Fiction: Short-Short Stories From America and Beyond, I remember really liking it. A couple of the stories in there really stuck with me - there was one called "Reply All," and another one by David Foster Wallace which was a bit much, but will always stick with me...
This collection had flashes of brilliance, but I can't imagine I'll really remember any of the stories in a year. Or a week.
Here are the authors I'd wish to apologize to for the 2 star review:
Elizabeth Ehrlich, David Lloyd, Beth Alvarado, Lex Wiliford, and Leigh Allison Wilson.
I loved your stories.
But in a book with 100? 200? of such stories, I expected to love just a few more.
Here's a quote that I'll be adding to the goodreads quote database - if it's not already there:
"Every story is true and a lie. The true part of this one is: Love and the memory of love can't be drowned. The lie part is that this is a good thing."
-From Bullhead by Leigh Allison Wilson (Click the link for an audio version of the story.)
The story - but especially the quote reminded me of a series of poems by Anna Kamienska called, "The Second Happiness of Job." If you've never read them, you should. Here's one I found online called The Return of Job. If you get the chance to read the whole thing, read the whole thing.
This collection had flashes of brilliance, but I can't imagine I'll really remember any of the stories in a year. Or a week.
Here are the authors I'd wish to apologize to for the 2 star review:
Elizabeth Ehrlich, David Lloyd, Beth Alvarado, Lex Wiliford, and Leigh Allison Wilson.
I loved your stories.
But in a book with 100? 200? of such stories, I expected to love just a few more.
Here's a quote that I'll be adding to the goodreads quote database - if it's not already there:
"Every story is true and a lie. The true part of this one is: Love and the memory of love can't be drowned. The lie part is that this is a good thing."
-From Bullhead by Leigh Allison Wilson (Click the link for an audio version of the story.)
The story - but especially the quote reminded me of a series of poems by Anna Kamienska called, "The Second Happiness of Job." If you've never read them, you should. Here's one I found online called The Return of Job. If you get the chance to read the whole thing, read the whole thing.
March 16, 2015
This book really captures the raw emotions and confusing times of what its like to grow up. The book, "Sudden Flash Youth", contains 65 short stories written by multiple authors, describing how different scenarios can cause a person to suddenly grow up. Although each story is different, all stories starts off with characters that are living in their own world, but as the stories develops something happens that causes the characters to suddenly wake up and face the reality of the world around them.
I would only recommend this book to peers my age or older, since this book shows the sexual aspects of growing up and most stories end on a dark note. These stories really opened up my mind to the reality of how some people grow up, and the thought that some of these stories could be true really lingers with you. The different authors really did a great job showing the different feelings and reactions when characters realize their youth is gone. Most of the stories end negatively, and I would have enjoyed the book even more if there were more stories that ended positively. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to be comforted and relate to these stories, at the same time also be disturbed and sadden by these stories. The line, "Why boxers, who want to so badly hurt each other, can rest their heads on the shoulders of their opponents..." (34), really stays with you and makes you think, just like this whole book.
I would only recommend this book to peers my age or older, since this book shows the sexual aspects of growing up and most stories end on a dark note. These stories really opened up my mind to the reality of how some people grow up, and the thought that some of these stories could be true really lingers with you. The different authors really did a great job showing the different feelings and reactions when characters realize their youth is gone. Most of the stories end negatively, and I would have enjoyed the book even more if there were more stories that ended positively. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to be comforted and relate to these stories, at the same time also be disturbed and sadden by these stories. The line, "Why boxers, who want to so badly hurt each other, can rest their heads on the shoulders of their opponents..." (34), really stays with you and makes you think, just like this whole book.
March 11, 2013
I’m not going to review this anthology like I would normally review a novel because this book contains dozens of short stories that have their own merits.
What I really liked about this collection as a whole was the fact that all the stories were short, very short.
Some were cute, others were funny, and others were depressing. All worth reading. Definitely pick it up if you’re looking for something to read and not wanting to connect to a character emotionally. This collection won’t give you that chance.
These stories were my favorite:
- Sleeping by Katharine Webber
- Little Brother tm by Bruce Holland Rogers
- Homeward Bound by Tome Hazuka
- Beyond Yesler by Peter Bacho
- The Burden of Agatha by Natalie Haney Tilghman
- Trapped by Shelby Raebeck
- Pep Assembly at Evergreen Junior High by David Partenheimer
- My Brother at the Canadian Border by Sholeh Wolpe
- The Engines of Sodom by Jonathan Papernick
- The Stoop by Donald Capone
- For Good by Sarah Layden
What I really liked about this collection as a whole was the fact that all the stories were short, very short.
Some were cute, others were funny, and others were depressing. All worth reading. Definitely pick it up if you’re looking for something to read and not wanting to connect to a character emotionally. This collection won’t give you that chance.
These stories were my favorite:
- Sleeping by Katharine Webber
- Little Brother tm by Bruce Holland Rogers
- Homeward Bound by Tome Hazuka
- Beyond Yesler by Peter Bacho
- The Burden of Agatha by Natalie Haney Tilghman
- Trapped by Shelby Raebeck
- Pep Assembly at Evergreen Junior High by David Partenheimer
- My Brother at the Canadian Border by Sholeh Wolpe
- The Engines of Sodom by Jonathan Papernick
- The Stoop by Donald Capone
- For Good by Sarah Layden
April 24, 2013
There were some lovely stories in this collection. There were some that made me think, some that gave me the feels, some that were hard to read because of the subject matter, and some that surprised me because they went somewhere I didn't expect.
If you like flash fiction, this is an excellent collection of it. There were only a few stories that made me wrinkle my nose in distaste. Anthologies can be hit and miss at times, but I think this one was far more hit than miss.
If you like flash fiction, this is an excellent collection of it. There were only a few stories that made me wrinkle my nose in distaste. Anthologies can be hit and miss at times, but I think this one was far more hit than miss.
July 30, 2012
I really enjoyed reading these short-short stories. There are a handful that are 5 stars and a few that are probably only 2, but over all it's a good collection. They were collected around the theme of youth and children. So one of my favorite themes in one of my favorite formats. I recommend it!
April 20, 2014
Though it did peter out a little bit in the last third or so of the book, this was a great anthology. I've found short story collections can be a real mixed bag, but this one was definitely worth reading all the way through.
July 17, 2015
Absolutely loved some of these stories (all very short, 1-3 pages, usually, but spanning genres... All somehow set in youth ), liked most of them, and only found a few to be just okay. Real gem for class, writing models, inspiration, and reflection on life.
August 22, 2011
Here is my review, in Prime Number magazine:
http://www.sharonharrigan.net/blog/su...
http://www.sharonharrigan.net/blog/su...
December 17, 2011
Full disclosure: my short story, "No Wake Zone," appears in this collection... along with great stories by Steve Almond, Ron Carlson, Dave Eggers, Alice Walker, and many others.
December 17, 2012
This was an interesting book. The stories were so short that you could not get bored reading it. Although many were depressing and sad, the book had a few excellent highlights.
July 1, 2013
Okay- it got better after the opening stories. I found about 20 stories that I liked overall.
September 16, 2014
This was a fun read. There are a handful of stories I may use with my middle school students.
August 1, 2016
Many of these stories are not just ABOUT youth, but also stories that youth will enjoy and relate to!
September 30, 2016
My mentor Aaron Hamburger has a story in this book. His gets 6 stars.
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May 5, 2013I found most of this unremarkable and unmemorable. :-(
July 30, 2015
Helpful set of mentor texts for 11-12th grade. Some are possibly too real for classroom use.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews