I really, really enjoyed reading “You Don’t Even Know Me” by Sharon G. Flake. I usually do not like to read short stories; they usually don’t sit well with me; the stories may not connect well together and that turns me off (too much ‘jumping around’). The stories had a different main character but it worked well.

I was just talking with a coworker how this book would be perfect for high school students to choose a story and write/respond to the story. Students can respond to the literature instead of writing about “what makes me happy’, “what I did over break”, or some other topic. These stories will help students think more critically.

The stories had me on the edge of my seat, not knowing where they were heading. The stories were edgy enough but not over the top. I would think, ‘oh this story is going to be about…’ and took a dramatic turn that I didn’t expect. A few stories don’t have a ‘complete’ tidy ending. Students could elaborate on the endings in a class or small group discussions and have them share their point of view of what happened and what they think is going to happen if the author continued writing.