On the Cooperative Children's Book Center Best-of-the-Year list for 2009
Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice, 2009 "Starred Choice
Ontario Library Association's Golden Oak Award nominee
OLA's Red Maple nominee 2010
Deborah Ellis's first collection of short stories explores the lives of children who have been affected directly, or indirectly, by drugs. Sometimes touching and often surprising, the stories are set against backdrops as diverse as the remote north and small town America to Moscow's Red Square and an opium farm in Afghanistan.
This is an unforgettable collection of stories that will elicit discussions about the toll drugs take on the lives of teenagers and their families.
"Ellis's first collection of short stories for YAs exhibits the same fine writing quality that readers have come to expect from her. As occurs in the majority of her books, Ellis addresses a social concern, this time drugs and addictions, but she does so without engaging in any preaching or making of overt value judgements. Instead, she just lets readers draw their own conclusions from the stories' happenings.
Highly recommended."
— CM Magazine
"Lunch with Lenin, is a powerful and skillfully executed collection of short stories about the impact of drugs, alcohol, and addiction on the lives of young people. . . This collection is guaranteed to provoke discussion and debate among those who do read it, particularly at the junior high and early high school level, and is likely to attract teachers looking for accessible and interesting classroom reading."
— Quill & Quire
"The stories themselves are uniformly readable, and their subject is undeniably timely and urgently important."
— Booklist
"The variety of characters, settings, and perspectives make this a quality collection."
— School Library Journal
"Fabulous work.. ."
— The Hamilton Spectator
"In her first book of short stories, she lives up to her very fine reputation as a writer of thoughtful, current, and compelling fiction. Each [story is perfect for opening a discussion on issues that will resonate with many of the adolescent readers… be sure to include it in your list of books to share in your middle years or high school classroom, or with your teenager…. Thank You, Deborah Ellis for sharing your stories with us!"
— The Brandon Sun
"Deborah Ellis has written a marvelous collection of ten short stories presenting realistic and relevant problems to teenage readers. Her stories show how courageous individuals make difficult choices in a confusing and often dangerous world. One of the most powerful messages in the entire collection of stories is found in the words of Ms. Greer, a history teacher, "Stories… That's really all we leave behind us. Good stories and bad stories. Sometimes, we get to choose." (p. 147) Teenage readers will definitely choose these stories.
Rating: E - Excellent"
— Resource Links
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