Get Gripped by #20 by Nancy Springer

[Untreed]

Our short story series by master story teller Nancy Springer is taking off:

#20 is a truly magnificent short story. It deserves to be a classic. Everything about it is perfect. The writing is fluent, flawless and beautiful. The plot is delightful. The characters are well-drawn and fascinating, especially that of Mrs. Life herself.

The full review has been posted at Manic Readers and we have a book excerpt available at Untreed Reads.

#20 by Nancy Springer:

Little Veronica likes hanging out at Mrs. Life's porch. She can see the whole town from the steps, and Mrs. Life is fascinating in the way that she keeps track of all sorts of numbers and information in her little spiral-bound notebooks. So it's surprising to Veronica when the always-nice Mrs. Life has an argument with Mr. Quickel, the school health teacher and wrestling coach, about the cost of mowing her lawn. Soon, Mrs. Life has started to insinuate things about Mr. Quickel, his marriage and what he might or might not have done with a boy who ran off from the town to live life as an openly gay man. Soon, the entire town is turning on Mr. Quickel with rumors and threats and destroying his sanity. Before too long, Veronica starts to see what Mrs. Life's real motivation is, and what dark secrets she keeps in one of her spiral-bound notebooks. A short story.