Criss Cross (novel)

Criss Cross is a novel by Lynne Rae Perkins that received the 2006 Newbery Medal for excellence in children's literature. It includes the character Debbie from her previous novel, All Alone in the Universe, but introduces several new characters, primarily her neighborhood friends Hector, Lenny, Patty, and Phil.

Plot
This story takes place in a small midwestern town called Seldom, during spring and summer in the early 1970s. It follows the criss-crossing stories of a group of middle-school children. A necklace plays a significant part in all of the criss-cross moments, helping the characters in the book to find their true selves, giving the novel a touch of magic realism.

Debbie usually spends time with her four friends, Patty, Hector, Lenny, and Phil. Their typical summer would be to hang around town and sit in Lenny's dad's pickup truck, listening to the radio. The characters in this book all wish for something exciting to happen, trying to find their true selves. The main character is Debbie, who wishes for something different to happen and often finds herself thinking about her true love. Hector is also a main character, who gets inspired to play the guitar and meets a girl he likes named Meadow from his guitar classes. We get to know more about the thoughts Debbie and Patty shares, and how Lenny is smart from reading encyclopedias, but has a hard time taking tests. All of the friends go through their own changes throughout the summer, and grow in their own ways. In the end, to tie up their summer, they all have a block party, and become more mature, and they use their new knowledge to move along in life.

Theme
The overall theme of Criss Cross is adolescence and identity, and making connections. The teenagers start to grow and mature, while trying to find their true selves and identity. Their stories connect in the book, and sometimes their paths can criss cross and connect, but they miss each other by less than a second.

Reception
Kirkus Reviews described Criss Cross as "A tenderly existential work that will reward more thoughtful readers in this age of the ubiquitous action saga." According to The Horn Book Magazine, "In idiosyncratic, wistful prose, Perkins mines every moment of missed connection and near-change with a hypnotic hyperawareness reminiscent of adolescence itself." In 2008, Anita Silvey, author of 100 Best Books for Children, described Criss Cross in a School Library Journal article as one of several recent Newbery winners considered "particularly disappointing" by public librarians.