The stories of Sudden Flash Youth may all be less than one thousand words, but that doesn't mean they can't pack a punch in those few pages. They're all short, and they all deal with the subject of youth, but it's certainly a diverse compilation, covering all voices and perspectives. In one story, we hear from a young narrator growing up during the Nixon era who is wondering if they he bother being good anymore, in a time when even the president has been caught lying. Then there's a story about a boy raised by wolves, followed by another about a fifteen year old girl wondering what gifts she will received at her quinceanera. The plot and the voices differ, but all the stories deal with the raw and real aspects of growing up. These are stories about first kisses, ugly breakups, wrecking cars, losing virginity and finding religion; about things that no doubt every teenager has experienced in some way. Reading the stories of Sudden Flash Youth is like looking through the scrapbooks of 65 different people. They read like snapshots, like tiny fragments of lives that we want to know more about. They're short and sometimes sweet and sometimes sad, but always satisfying.