The Worst Years of Your Life

Why it's good not to be young

By Caroline Leavitt
Published: Dec 01, 2007

The Worst Years of Your Life
Edited by Mark Jude Poirier
Simon & Schuster, $15.00 (August)

Remember middle school? The bad hair days, the agony of zits and the never-ending battering of the heart? Relive the memories from a safe and sympathetic distance in this fabulous anthology of short stories from A.M. Homes, Jennifer Egan, Stanley Elkin, Kevin Canty and more. In Elizabeth Stuckey-French’s “Junior,” a young girl is sent away for trying to drown another. Kevin Canty’s “Pretty Judy” unravels the life of a young hormonally charged boy who ramps up his sexual encounters with a slow girl next door, with disastrous results. Smart, funny—and guaranteed to make you appreciate aging.