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Yellow Mini
A powerful free-verse novel that intertwines the coming-of-age stories of five teens and their relationships with each other, their parents, and themselves. Mark, Mr. Popularity, tools around town in the yellow mini left to him by his recently deceased father; his new girlfriend Stacey can't believe her luck, but doesn't understand Mark's odd need to disappear into the woods from time to time; her former friends Mary and Annabelle try to find their place in the world - shy Mary transforms into a concert pianist and Annabelle into an world-changing activist with the idealistic and adoring Christopher by her side. In the background, the teens' parents struggle with their desire to protect their children, yet give them room to grow into the adults they must become. Each voice tells his or her story in powerful free verse.
243 pages, Paperback
First published September 7, 2011
5 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Lori Weber
16 books9 followersI was born and raised in Montreal, in a neighbourhood called Park
Extension. This was a great place for a writer to grow up because there
were lots of colourful characters around, lots of street life, and lots of
different ethnicities to be curious about. The predominant ethnic group at
the time (the 60s) was Greek. I grew up hearing as much Greek as
French and English, and I learned to love the food and customs of my
Greek friends. It was, however, early training in being more of an
observer than a participant. When I was 13 my parents bought a house in
Ville St-Laurent, a suburb of Montreal. Perhaps because of my Park Ex
days, I found myself hanging out mostly with a group of Armenian friends
the first few years. I was just comfortable being different– and having to
decode foreign languages. This gave me an interest in languages, so I
went on to learn German (my father’s heritage), as well as Spanish in
later life, which means I speak four languages, although none but English
well enough to write in.
At cegep (which exists only in Quebec and is a transitional stage of
higher education between high school and university), I started to write
stories in my Creative Writing classes. There, I met a teacher, Fran, who
became a mentor and really encouraged me to develop this passion.
That’s when I first started to feel that I could be a writer and actually
publish. I began going to readings and writing workshops whenever I
could, to immerse myself in writing culture.
I studied English literature at university, but part-time, because I worked
and supported myself from the age of 19 on. I lived in many different
parts of Montreal, including downtown, Verdun, the Plateau, and did
many different office jobs, such as documentation clerk in a shipping
company and assistant editor for a Public Relations newspaper at McGill.
Throughout all this time, I continued to write stories and had a few
published, along with some poems, in small press magazines.
At the age of 29, Bachelor’s Degree, in hand, I moved with my partner to
Nova Scotia and did a Master’s Degree in English. I got my MA and
became a Ma all within weeks of each other, which was a neat
experience.
The next move was across the water to Newfoundland, a place I had
never been to. The ferry crossing was wild, with ripping wind and high
waves which I feared would sweep my six-week old daughter overboard if
I went outside. We stayed in St. John’s for two fantastic years.
Newfoundland is everything and more than people say it is – charming,
special, wet, and wonderful.
We returned to Quebec and I pursued a degree in teaching English,
which led to my current job as an English teacher at John Abbott College
in Montreal, where I have been teaching for 11 years. Seven years in, I
decided that if I were ever going to get back to writing in a more serious
way, I had to lessen my teaching load, so I began teaching part-time and
writing more. This led to my first book, Klepto. I have continued to
combine teaching and writing ever since. Both are labour-intensive and
the two together equal more than one full-time job, but I’m so happy to be
able to earn a living and continue writing books.
Extension. This was a great place for a writer to grow up because there
were lots of colourful characters around, lots of street life, and lots of
different ethnicities to be curious about. The predominant ethnic group at
the time (the 60s) was Greek. I grew up hearing as much Greek as
French and English, and I learned to love the food and customs of my
Greek friends. It was, however, early training in being more of an
observer than a participant. When I was 13 my parents bought a house in
Ville St-Laurent, a suburb of Montreal. Perhaps because of my Park Ex
days, I found myself hanging out mostly with a group of Armenian friends
the first few years. I was just comfortable being different– and having to
decode foreign languages. This gave me an interest in languages, so I
went on to learn German (my father’s heritage), as well as Spanish in
later life, which means I speak four languages, although none but English
well enough to write in.
At cegep (which exists only in Quebec and is a transitional stage of
higher education between high school and university), I started to write
stories in my Creative Writing classes. There, I met a teacher, Fran, who
became a mentor and really encouraged me to develop this passion.
That’s when I first started to feel that I could be a writer and actually
publish. I began going to readings and writing workshops whenever I
could, to immerse myself in writing culture.
I studied English literature at university, but part-time, because I worked
and supported myself from the age of 19 on. I lived in many different
parts of Montreal, including downtown, Verdun, the Plateau, and did
many different office jobs, such as documentation clerk in a shipping
company and assistant editor for a Public Relations newspaper at McGill.
Throughout all this time, I continued to write stories and had a few
published, along with some poems, in small press magazines.
At the age of 29, Bachelor’s Degree, in hand, I moved with my partner to
Nova Scotia and did a Master’s Degree in English. I got my MA and
became a Ma all within weeks of each other, which was a neat
experience.
The next move was across the water to Newfoundland, a place I had
never been to. The ferry crossing was wild, with ripping wind and high
waves which I feared would sweep my six-week old daughter overboard if
I went outside. We stayed in St. John’s for two fantastic years.
Newfoundland is everything and more than people say it is – charming,
special, wet, and wonderful.
We returned to Quebec and I pursued a degree in teaching English,
which led to my current job as an English teacher at John Abbott College
in Montreal, where I have been teaching for 11 years. Seven years in, I
decided that if I were ever going to get back to writing in a more serious
way, I had to lessen my teaching load, so I began teaching part-time and
writing more. This led to my first book, Klepto. I have continued to
combine teaching and writing ever since. Both are labour-intensive and
the two together equal more than one full-time job, but I’m so happy to be
able to earn a living and continue writing books.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Want to read
May 17, 2012Novel in Verse + Mini Cooper = I'm definitely reading
October 27, 2015
My teacher had us read this book. It's the first book I read in verse and it was really easy to read, a fast one too. I don't mind the book, it's just not my taste :/ the character I liked the most was Mark, I think it's because he went through a dark phase in this book and at the end, he just turned 180 degrees around.
May 23, 2012
REVIEW ORIGINALLY POSTED ON READER VIEWS KIDS.
“Yellow Mini” by Lori Weber follows the story of five teenagers: Mark, Stacey, Annabelle, Christopher, and Mary. They are each struggling with issues of identity and voice. When the story starts, Mark’s dad has just died and Mark bought a yellow mini with the money he inherited. Stacey likes driving with popular Mark in his cool car, but sometimes Mark acts just too strange. Annabelle is betrayed when Stacey joins the cool crowd, and turns her energy to anti-consumer activism. Christopher likes Annabelle, but isn't sure how to get her love while keeping true to himself. Mary is an amazing pianist, but freezes in front of a crowd.
The story is told in short chapters of free form poetry, from thirteen different narrators (the kids, and some parents and teachers).
One of the first things I noticed upon opening the book was the uneven lines of poetry. The lines are sometimes short, sometimes long, and rarely rhyme, but the words of a beautiful rhythm and cadence.
For example, Mark writes:
“Driving out, getting away,
ribbons of highway
beneath my wheels,
is the only way I feel
real these days.” (p66)
Not only are the words put together well, but each of the characters has a distinct voice. Towards the beginning of the book, I had to make a note of which narrator was speaking, but by the middle, I barely had to glance at the name because their voices and stories (while intertwined) were so unique. I have seen even three narrators done awkwardly, with characters undistinguishable from one another; or heavy-handedly, with characters who were made different to extremes, but Mark, Stacey, Annabelle, Christopher, and Mary were not absurdly different, or hum-drumily similar.
“Yellow Mini” might sound at first like an angsty, emo-poem of teenage struggles, but it’s really much more. It is about finding a voice, a voice that says your own thoughts in your own way. It is about communicating new ideas with old people, old ideas with new people, and learning how to stay silent.
“Yellow Mini” is about growing into who you are, something we all do, more and more every day.
“Yellow Mini” by Lori Weber follows the story of five teenagers: Mark, Stacey, Annabelle, Christopher, and Mary. They are each struggling with issues of identity and voice. When the story starts, Mark’s dad has just died and Mark bought a yellow mini with the money he inherited. Stacey likes driving with popular Mark in his cool car, but sometimes Mark acts just too strange. Annabelle is betrayed when Stacey joins the cool crowd, and turns her energy to anti-consumer activism. Christopher likes Annabelle, but isn't sure how to get her love while keeping true to himself. Mary is an amazing pianist, but freezes in front of a crowd.
The story is told in short chapters of free form poetry, from thirteen different narrators (the kids, and some parents and teachers).
One of the first things I noticed upon opening the book was the uneven lines of poetry. The lines are sometimes short, sometimes long, and rarely rhyme, but the words of a beautiful rhythm and cadence.
For example, Mark writes:
“Driving out, getting away,
ribbons of highway
beneath my wheels,
is the only way I feel
real these days.” (p66)
Not only are the words put together well, but each of the characters has a distinct voice. Towards the beginning of the book, I had to make a note of which narrator was speaking, but by the middle, I barely had to glance at the name because their voices and stories (while intertwined) were so unique. I have seen even three narrators done awkwardly, with characters undistinguishable from one another; or heavy-handedly, with characters who were made different to extremes, but Mark, Stacey, Annabelle, Christopher, and Mary were not absurdly different, or hum-drumily similar.
“Yellow Mini” might sound at first like an angsty, emo-poem of teenage struggles, but it’s really much more. It is about finding a voice, a voice that says your own thoughts in your own way. It is about communicating new ideas with old people, old ideas with new people, and learning how to stay silent.
“Yellow Mini” is about growing into who you are, something we all do, more and more every day.
December 18, 2011
A short 240 page novel written entirely in verse, it alternates perspectives between high schoolers and their parents, offering volumes of thought, feeling, and emotional payoff in simple yet well-chosen words that will roll off the tip of your tongue.
May 7, 2013
This book is one of best teen fiction I've ever read. I really how the author, Lori Weber, told the whole plot through poems. What I like about the poems are that they are not told by one character, but many and each of them tells multiple poems about different situations and states that they are in. I also like how each character is so different from one another with a complete different story in their background and with their family. For example in this story, Annabelle is a girl that cares about the society of the world and wants to make a difference while her mom was merely a teen when she was born and even though, her mom supports her and encourages her and brought her up well. Mark is a boy who's Mr. Popularity in school and everyone thinks highly of him and he has a reputation, but he's recently lost his farther and he would go to the woods to visit his farther. I like how some poems are also in perspective of the adults and how they see us as children and that they understand our situations. I was really touched by the poem called Lost told by Stacey's dad. It's about how her dad already lost one daughter and that's Stacey's older sister. And now Stacey isn't very stable and dealing with problems and coming home late. And in the poem Stacey's dad wonder why things are so complicated now and not like before in the simpler times when they had matching dresses and ice cream cones. I like how each character or something in their lives happens/changes in the end. Mark turned nice, Mary got rid of her fear of performing and shared her music with the world, Stacey probably turned good because she was really glad and knew things will be alright when her dad hugged her, Annabelle and Christopher got back together and went to New York to explore. I really liked the ending.
I picked up this book because I saw a couple of people reading it. Also I was just looking at the teen fiction section when I found it and I realized that this teen fiction is told through the format of poems and I thought it was pretty interesting, plus I never read anything like this so I decided to give it a shot and it turned out great.
I finished it because it was really good and I really enjoyed it all the way till the very end. And the ending was my favourite part.
I recommend this book to all teens and teen fiction readers. I promise you that you'll like this book. It's actually quite touching at some parts and you experience teenage hood in this book as if you were the one facing the fears and problems. You will also see the way that parents may look at us and how they think of the situation and problem.
I picked up this book because I saw a couple of people reading it. Also I was just looking at the teen fiction section when I found it and I realized that this teen fiction is told through the format of poems and I thought it was pretty interesting, plus I never read anything like this so I decided to give it a shot and it turned out great.
I finished it because it was really good and I really enjoyed it all the way till the very end. And the ending was my favourite part.
I recommend this book to all teens and teen fiction readers. I promise you that you'll like this book. It's actually quite touching at some parts and you experience teenage hood in this book as if you were the one facing the fears and problems. You will also see the way that parents may look at us and how they think of the situation and problem.
January 29, 2013
This book is pretty cool, its in the form of a poem, every page has someones opinion about something. This gave me alot of ideas during the poem writing time during english. Its basically about a 3 girls. They use to be bestfriends. But one of the girls during the summer got a boyfriend the most popular boy in the school who owned a yellow car. She ditched her bestfriends for him and never talked to them again. Untill at the end, they understand each other. I wouldnt recommend this because unless you want to read a poem each page, its boring.Some scenes are boring but its pretty good all in all.
December 30, 2011
THANK YOU NATALIE!
May 14, 2012
nice story, novel in verse.
January 29, 2016
Well done - characters, verse, story.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews