Within Reach: Ten Stories

Though not the most provocative volume of short YA fiction recently published, this collection of stories focusing on ``kids who take risks'' displays a fair sampling of genres (historical fiction, contemporary realism, science fiction) and includes background information on contributors and their works. Some selections are predictable and tend to be moralistic (in Carol Snyder's ``The Best Bedroom in Brooklyn,'' for example, a girl momentarily dazzled by a visitor learns to value her mother for ``her own special self''); others prove relevant in voicing concerns of contemporary teens. Of particular interest are ``Saturdays Is Peppermint'' (Constance C. Greene), which illuminates the brief friendship that springs up between an amateur and a veteran air-traveler, both children of divorced parents; and ``Taking a Chance'' (Jan Greenberg), which traces the relationship between a mediocre ballplayer and an abused older boy. As indicated in the editor's introduction (Gallo promises that ``enjoyment is within reach''), the main purpose of this book is to entertain, and reluctant readers are especially likely to appreciate the accessibility of the stories' themes, conflicts and down-to-earth language. Ages 10-up. (July)