101 Ways to Dance

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Taking its title from one of the collection’s 14 short stories,
Stinson’s 101 Ways to Dance is thematically unified by each story’s
incorporation of an actual or anticipated sexual experience involving
its adolescent characters. Before those who practice “silent
censorship” during the selection process decide to pass on this book,
note that the stories’ “sex” is rarely upfront, and often what
occurs, or has occurred, is simply left to the readers’ imaginations,
as is the situation.

While the happenings in many of the stories could be experienced by
almost any teen, some are unique to the adolescents’ circumstances.
For instance, in “Everybody Loves a Clown,” Joel Crawford, 17, who
will die from cancer by Christmas, has many things yet to experience,
one of them being sex. The freedom to physically express affection is
denied a pair of high-school students with Down’s syndrome in “All
You Need Is a Song.” In “Getting Lucky,” on the day Mark is to
marry Amy, his pregnant girlfriend, he overhears that he is not the
baby’s father. Coming out as a lesbian or gay teen finds expression in
a number of stories including “Between Mars and Venus,” “Micheline
and Renée,” and “Ferris Wheel.” Teens who enjoy “Diving” can
be directed to Stinson’s novel Becoming Ruby (2003), in which this
story forms the opening scene.

The collection’s closing “Special Features” include a
biographical note about and an interview with the author as well as
Stinson-created discussion questions connected to each story. Highly
recommended.