Things Are Seldom What They Seem

by Sandy Asher

A suave high school drama coach is at the bottom of fourteen-year-old Debbie's withering relationships with her older sister, her best friend, and short, witty Murray, whose friendship had been very special to her.

Genres: Young Adult

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Sandy Asher, a playwright and children's author, is probably best known for her young-adult novels and other prose works for young readers. Drawing many of the ideas and characters for her writings from her childhood memories, Asher has earned critical praise and numerous awards for novels such as Just like Jenny, Things Are Seldom What They Seem, and Everything Is Not Enough. In addition to fiction, Asher has also edited the story collections On Her Way: Stories and Poems about Growing up Girl and the award-winning With All My Heart, with All My Mind: Thirteen Stories about Growing up Jewish, which collect works that address many of the same adolescent concerns Asher confronts in her fiction.

Reviews

[Stephanie A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty much as advertised on the tin, fine but forgettable. A typical 80s novel with a chatty protagonist, a shrimp of a not-quite-boyfriend, and a (slightly-less-typical) lesson in how to recognize the signs of a teacher being sus AF (dealt with in ways that are simultaneously very 80s - it's not "that bad" because it was ~only~ unwanted kissing and boob-touching; maybe he just needs counseling - and depressingly familiar/relevant to today, with girls not wanting to come forward and admit what happened because of how people will look at them. Probably more of a 2.5 if I'm being honest.

[Partridge Public]

Asher, Sandy