Some of the monologues struck me as more poignant that others—"A Favor" in which a young person asks a friend if the speaker can sleep over at the friend's house because his or her father is acting strange; "Thanks, I Think" where a guy gets a ring from his aunt but worries that it might be designed for a girl; and "Jerk" in which the speaker finds his or her birthmother but that person doesn't want to speak to her child. These made me think there are real situations that happen outside of the classroom and the author is giving teenagers words they perhaps would have difficulty finding on their own to express how they feel. That seems very healthy and worthwhile in itself. Isn't it the same reason we, as adults, go to plays, read books and attend thoughtful movies? They help us express what we cannot.

When the monologues dip into the vernacular they seem less genuine to me: "I came home from work and she was out of there man. No, man. Yeah, it kind of sucks, but that's cool. No note, no nothing. Yeah, dude I'm sure. Dude, I looked all over the place. You think I don't look all over the place? She's my mother, man." But there are cut-ups I knew in my high school teaching days that I can hear doing "Money" with its quirky logic and ironic conclusion. And were I the teacher of students doing these, I would certainly ask why they chose the particular ones they did. I can see many an active class discussion following their answers.