Hardly Children
Laura Adamczyk
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Hardly Children
Laura Adamczyk
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Adamczyk’s first collection revolves around youthful characters thrust into difficult situations and uncertain of how to move forward or adequately communicate their needs and desires ...Though occasionally veering into MFA pretension, Adamczyk’s confident, quirky first outing is bound to find admirers in fans of Aimee Bender and Karen Russell..
... [The stories in the book are] eerie, often spare, and contain uncomfortable examinations of childhood, adulthood, gender, and whiteness.
In an early story in this collection, Too Much a Child, a young teacher lives in a city where children are being taken. No one is sure by whom or for what purpose: Something is happening here that is more sanctioned, and therefore, more sinister, than simple kidnappings. Tensions in the city are peaking, and demonstrations are breaking out with citizens demanding justice.
Adamczyk’s accomplished debut collection pulses with an underlying sense of menace. The short opener, Wanted, has a quiet depth that moves it away from what is traditionally thought of as flash fiction.