Life Is Short and Then You Die: Mystery Writers of America Presents First Encounters with Murder

by Kelley Armstrong (Editor)

Overview

Life Is Short and Then You Die is the Mystery Writers of America's first teen anthology, edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.

Adolescence is a time of “firsts.” First kiss. First love. First loss. First job. The first taste of adult responsibilities, and the first look at an independent life away from both the restrictions and the security of home.

And in this case, a very different type of “first”: murder.

This short story collection of murder mysteries adds a sinister spin to the joy and pain of firsts that have always been a major part of life, whether it be high school cliques who take the term “backstabbing” too seriously, stumbling upon a body on the way home from school, or receiving a Snapchat message that promises something deadly.

Contributors include Barry Lyga, Caleb Roehrig, Emmy Laybourne, Jonathan Maberry, R.L. Stine, Rachel Vincent, Y.S. Lee, and more!

An Imprint Book

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250196408
Publisher:	Imprint
Publication date:	09/10/2019
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Lexile:	HL720L (what's this?)
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	15 - 17 Years

About the Author

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers' dismay. All efforts to make her produce "normal" stories failed. Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She's the author of the New York Times-bestselling Women of the Otherworld paranormal suspense series and the Darkest Powers young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, her kids, and far too many pets.
Kelley Armstrong believes experience is the best teacher, though she’s been told this shouldn’t apply to writing her murder scenes. To craft her books, she has studied aikido, archery and fencing. She sucks at all of them. She has also crawled through very shallow cave systems and climbed half a mountain before chickening out. She is however an expert coffee drinker and a true connoisseur of chocolate-chip cookies.

Table of Contents

Floater / Kelley Armstrong
The Day I Killed Coach Duffy / R.L. Stine
In Plain Sight / Y.S. Lee
Daddy's Girl / Melissa Marr
Summer Job / Amanda Witt
The Boy in the Red Vans / Rachel Vincent
The Company I Keep / Jeff Somers
Concealment / Eileen Rendahl
Night of the Living Dog / David Bart
Murder IRL / Jeff Soloway
A Killer Story / Julie Tollefson
Gnat / Joseph S. Walker
A Different Hero's Day / Anthony Franze and Barry Lancet
First Party Back / Emmy Laybourne
What I Did on My Summer Vacation / Jonathan Maberry
The Things We Don't Talk About / Stephen Ross
Enemy Lines / Caleb Roehrig
Six Ways to Kill Your Grandmother / Barry Lyga

Editorial Reviews

2019-07-13
A collection of 18 tales of murder witnessed, committed, and experienced, from an array of YA and adult authors.

A luminary-studded author list notwithstanding, this collection doesn't shoot high; the mostly implicitly white and heteronormative characters, in largely contemporary settings, combine with the murder theme to give this an air of same-same despite the variety of narrative styles and the many forms of murder. Standouts from adult authors include the heartwarming "A Different Hero's Day" by Anthony Franze (The Outsider, 2017, etc.) and Barry Lancet (The Spy Across the Table, 2017, etc.), in which ADHD is the critical characteristic that allows the protagonist to save the day when another teen is targeted. "The Company I Keep" by Jeffrey Somers (contributor: No Bars and a Dead Battery, 2018, etc.) excels in its descriptive writing and the slow reveal of psychological damage. The YA contributions feature a wider range, including both of the historical settings and the only ghost story. Y.S. Lee's (Twelve Sisters, 2018, etc.) prison murder tale "In Plain Sight," complete with historical note, is particularly noteworthy, tackling as it does female agency, while Jasper Dent fans will enjoy Barry Lyga's (co-author: The Hive, 2019, etc.) I Hunt Killers' (2012) prequel "Six Ways to Kill Your Grandmother." Suited more to casual browsing than cover-to-cover reading, this anthology may entice teens to expand their mystery reading.

Diverting enough. (introduction, author bios) (Mystery. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews

07/15/2019

Organized by crime and fantasy author Kelley Armstrong, this powerful anthology presents 18 short stories wherein teens’ first brushes with murder function as the fulcrum of life changes. Several selections involve murder’s aftermath, such as Y.S. Lee’s historical, lyrical “In Plain Sight,” inspired by a real-life female prisoner, and “Murder IRL” by Jeff Soloway, whose frank protagonist experiences severe acne, parental concern, and a killer in his virtual baseball league. Other contributions portray adolescents contemplating murder, as in Joseph S. Walker’s simmering “Gnat,” in which the eponymous victim of bullying captures a murder on camera and deliberates between justice and revenge, and in Barry Lyga’s darkly humorous “Six Ways to Kill Your Grandmother,” in which the teen son of a recently imprisoned serial killer considers how best to dispatch his senescent grandma. The authors chosen might have been more inclusive, and a few entries suffer from predictable twists (“The Boy in the Red Vans” by Rachel Vincent), uneven pacing (“Concealment” by Eileen Rendahl), and clunky dialogue (“Night of the Living Dog” by David Bart), but this anthology will nonetheless provide ample entertainment for young murder-mystery aficionados. Ages 15–up. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Ample entertainment for young murder-mystery aficionados." —Publishers Weekly

"This anthology may entice teens to expand their mystery reading." —Kirkus Reviews

"An appropriate read for a wide YA audience... a great collection for mystery lovers of all stripes." —Booklist

"A few choice selections... for a spooky readaloud." —The Bulletin

"A broad look at the genre... Engaging... Well written and interesting." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

09/06/2019

Gr 10 Up-Death proceeds in mysterious ways and these mysteries are all the more intriguing when murder is on the table. Or in the garage. Or in the neighborhood park. Edited by Armstrong, this is a collection of young adult short stories featuring murder. It is a broad look at the genre, covering the topic in a variety of ways—accidents, intentional, intentionally made to look like accidents—and from a variety of points of view; sometimes the protagonist witnessed the murder, was framed for it, stumbled across the victim, or even was murdered. The work is engaging and would fit into a moderate collection, but wouldn't be a strong recommendation to grip mystery lovers. VERDICT While all of the selections are well written and interesting, there are few surprises in these short stories.-Sarah Voels, Cedar Rapids Public Library, IA

School Library Journal