July 4 - "How to Tell Stories to Children"

“How to Tell Stories to Children”
by Miranda July
No One Belongs Here More Than You (2007)

* * * (Good) Realistic

As part of an unusual family dynamic, Deb acts as mother to the daughter of friends and experiences all of the complications of raising a child.

As one of the more “story-shaped” stories in the collection, this tale was easier to follow, and thus easier to enjoy. The strange family dynamic gave the story its hook and kept me interested throughout the story and up to its foreseeable end. For as interesting as the story could have been, things stayed relatively normal – and I know I’ve complained in the past about the strangeness of July’s tale, but that balance between the two is a fine line, easily crossed in either direction, both resulting in stories less than excellent.
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This story finishes the collection No One Belongs Here More Than You. Looking back, I’m less than impressed with the collection as a whole. The stand out story was, “The Swim Team,” a story not read as part of this year’s story-a-day project.