Comments on: Crazy Cat

By: Mark K.

Mark K. — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:23:57 +0000

I, too, loved this story. Didn’t find the kiss unexpected…by the time they were up on the expert slope, there was already the kind of attraction that could lead to it…I loved how the author dropped me right into the action, her vivid description, spot-on dialogue, and character-driven plot. If I have any qualms, they are about a larger issue: both this year, and last year the winning stories had some “gay” content…could this be a symptom of a larger trend that a superior YA story has “an edge.” I would argue that great story is a great story whether it has “an edge” or not. The YA lit that has lasted for generations doesn’t have “an edge” because what is edgy one decade is not edgy the next. “Little Women” perhaps would have been considered edgy because its narrator is a young woman who wants to be a writer…shocking! But then why do we still care about it? Why did Hollywood film recently make yet another version of it? (A excellent one, to be sure.) It’s not the edge; it’s something deeper than that. I hope that great stories are not being passed over as a result of a preference for “edgy” stories.

By: Linda Oatman High

Linda Oatman High — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 23:43:09 +0000

This is such a great story, Liz! Maybe you’ll expand it into a novel? LOVE it!!!

By: Elesia Ashkenazy

Elesia Ashkenazy — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:16:19 +0000

Congratulations!

By: Jeni

Jeni — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:23:20 +0000

I find the “I wouldn’t let my teen read this” comments interesting. Do you have teenagers? I do — one who challenges me nearly every day — and if I were to tell him, “Don’t read this story,” do you know what he’d do? He’d read it. Immediately. I really admired the writing in this piece — the pacing, the description, the voice, the thousand details that made me feel breathless at the story’s end. I didn’t expect the kiss, but I did admire Cat’s change in attitude throughout the piece — her decision that she was not going to be Dougie’s “little adventure;” her acknowledgement that she will be her own freakin’ adventure, thank you very much. I loved her growth in attitude throughout this short story — and because of that, I’d love to share this story with my daughters when they’re older (they are toddlers now). Well done!

By: Monica

Monica — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 05:02:58 +0000

Crazy Cat is a beautifully written, amazing story!
I found that the kiss was not entirely unexpected as the story builds up to it naturally. It makes sense. Great work!

By: Jodi

Jodi — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 01:29:43 +0000

Loved your action packed writing. You put me right there on the slope. I was really disappointed in the kiss ending though, and I wouldn’t let my teen read this.

By: Susa Silvermarie

Susa Silvermarie — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:38:57 +0000

Liz! This reader never stopped for breath. You sure deserve the prize. Crazy Cat is unforgettable.