Take the Stairs
For ages 12 plus
Second Story Press
Then, the sun glinted off a Building window that was covered in tinfoil. The light caught my eye, like a wink, and I got this weird feeling, as if the Building were watching all of us, and listening, too. Like our sounds and smells had seeped into its walls. The good and the bad. The laughs and the sobs. All those scuffmarks and fingerprints, sandwiched between layers of paint. The Building held it all, then let it trickle slowly back to us, like a tribute.
This novel in thirteen voices reveals the private thoughts and dreams of the thirteen teens who live in a rundown inner-city apartment building as they struggle to turn obstacles into opportunities and make their way in the world. There is David, who tries to talk to his dead father’s ghost, and Jennifer, who flirts with men she does not want. Asim, who faces hatred directed against his Muslim family, and Allie, who spends the night on suicide watch for her depressed mother.
Honours
- Ontario Library Association White Pine Award nominee 2005
Media
- A Teacher’s Guide is available.
Reviews
“Krossing’s significant achievement is to create an utterly believable, complex teen world.”
Quill & Quire
“Through reading Take the Stairs, one develops a greater appreciation for the commonality that runs through people’s lives: suffering, struggle, and hope. These are not the glossy stories one sees on TV but the real lives of teens growing up in Canada in the twenty-first century.”
Resource Links
“Not only does Krossing create a strong cast of players, but she skillfully casts The Building as the 14th major character, one whose stairs lead out as well as in.”
Canadian Book Review Annual
“The teenagers are appealing and realistic, sometimes troubled by life, sometimes hopeful, and sometimes gaining their dreams. A thought-provoking novel and also a very good read.”
Hi Rise
“Krossing incorporates a remarkable range … each account resonates with the turbulent emotions of young people coping with the gamut of teen issues.”
Canadian Review of Materials
“Despite the challenges the teens face, there is a ray of hope that threads itself throughout the stories and keeps the reader intrigued.”
KLIATT Review