"Get In Trouble: Stories" by Kelly Link ****

• Early Reviewer edition for LibraryThing.com
• Short Stories
• Originally published January 2015
• Epigraph:  "Year after year, On the monkey's face, A monkey's face." -- Basho
• Vocabulary:
• cerclage:   The placement of a nonabsorbable suture around the uterine cervix to treat premature dilation of the cervix during pregnancy.
• Quotes:
• "I'm the human equivalent of one of those baby birds that fall out of a nest and then some nice person picks the  baby bird up and puts it back.  Except that now the baby bird smells all wrong.  I think I smell wrong."
• "A sense of humor is a weakness.  I know you're supposed to be able to laugh at yourself, but that's pretty sucky advice when everyone is always laughing at you already."
• "What you deserve and what you can stand aren't necessarily the same thing."
• "So are you in town for the shindig? Shindig.  What kind of word is that?  Archeological excavation of the shin.  Knee surgery?"
• Review:   It is difficult for me to describe this particular collection of short stories.  Phrases which come to mind are stylistically inventive, charming, magical, inconsistent,disparate.  Some of the stories were absolutely wonderful, "Summer People" definitely my favorite.  Some seemed to ramble on too long and I lost interest.  The most striking traits were the creativity in terms of style and the moments in which the magical charm was immeasurable. The most common theme amongst the stories were coming of age conundrums faced by most, if not all, adolescents, such as the tensions of breaking away from family and lifelong expectations to become an individual.  This collection is worth the read, yet be prepared for something of a roller coaster ride.