On "My Mother’s Boyfriends" by Liz Wyckoff (867 words) ***

I'm reminded a bit of the Jim Jarmusch film Broken Flowers. In it, a man goes back to visit is a set of ex-girlfriends to find the mother of his son. Here, a mom takes a daughter on a tour of her old beaus, showing up how unimpressive they are, hoping to convey a somewhat different lesson, one the daughter finds she couldn't not keep if she tried. Read the story here at Annalemma.

On "How Tommy Soto Breaks Your Heart" by Susan Hope Lanier (889 words) ***

Here's a tale that vaguely revolves around 9/11. I like it because it captures the way in which life goes on around it, in some ways. I remember that day as one that rather stunned me, though. I didn't do much. I saw a bit of it on TV at work. I was in the process of losing my job, and we were sent home early. I met a coworker who was coming in late on my way out. At home, I napped. I didn't have a TV at home, so I went online a little, went to Target a little (it wasn't on), went to a bar and watched it. And then I didn't want to watch any more. Really, even at work, I'd left the TV room for a while because I couldn't take it. Not live.

In Lanier's piece, 9/11 is a backdrop for teenage angst over love, love for the nonwhite, the one who doesn't fit in. It's about liking something that others don't like and about being self-conscious about it. It's about wavering between varying feelings. Or really, maybe it's about something else entirely--read it here at Annalemma, and tell me what you think.

On "Hostages" by Shannon Heffernan (3143 words) ***

Anything can happen in a story. That's part of what makes them so fun to read. In some of the best stories, everything happens and nothing--that is, they wander around, letting life get messy, but they don't have a heavy story arc--they're just there. I found "Hostages" to be like that. Certainly, the piece is centered around a neighbor who has taken someone hostage, a situation that has more or less trapped a couple of twins in their apartment (and a few others outside their apartments). But life, mostly, goes on--the twins pack for moving, anguish over love, sickness, and what it means to truthful. There's not a lot of hysteria here. Like many such a situation, it is, as one of the officer's notes, mostly a waiting game. Read the story here at Annalemma.