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美国图书馆协会年会上，美国儿童图书协会颁发了2005年度儿童文学最高奖——纽伯瑞儿童文学奖，儿童文学作家林恩·雷·帕金斯的新作《十字交锋》获得金奖。美国儿童图书服务协会的主席芭芭拉·巴士顿评价她的作品说：“用特定的旁观者的角度描写，帕金斯准确地抓住了青春期里确定和不确定的一切，并成功地表达了出来。”帕金斯今年49岁，已出版了三本绘本和两本小说，她所有作品都与少年的成长有关系，她说自己迷恋这样的题材。获奖的《十字交锋》是她的第二本小说，书中插图也是她亲自手绘的。小说讲述的是一群生活在一个小镇上的十多岁少年的故事，书中涵盖了少年所关心的一切，包括家庭、生活以及朋友。帕金斯称自己写作的灵感源于自己晚熟的少年时代，在她看来，每个人都应该明白，生活里发生的一切虽然不会像电影或书里所描述的那样，但仍然称得上是美好的。
As the title and caption imply, this story reads like a series of intersecting vignettes—all focused on 14-year-old Debbie and her friends as they leave childhood behind. Debbie, who wishes that something would happen so she’ll be a different person, and Hector, who feels he is unfinished, narrate most of the novel. Both are 14 years old. Hector is a fabulous character with a wry humor and an appealing sense of self-awareness. The book also involves Debbie’s locket, which goes missing in the beginning of the tale and is passed around by a number of characters, emphasizing the theme of the book. The descriptive, measured writing includes poems, prose and question-and-answer formats. There is a great deal of humor in this gentle story about a group of childhood friends facing the crossroads of life and how they wish to live it. Best of all are the understated moments, often private and piercing in their authenticity, that capture intelligent, likable teens searching for signs of who they are, and of who they’ll become. Young teens will certainly relate to the self-consciousnesses and uncertainty of all of the characters, each of whom is straining toward clarity and awareness.
正如标题所暗示的那样，这个故事读起来就像是一系列小故事的大串连，主要人物有14岁的黛比以及周围的小伙伴，他们一起告别了童年。黛比希望能够发生一些事从而使自己变成另一个人；赫克托觉得自己还没有完全长大，他讲述了书中的大多数故事。他们两个人都是14岁。赫克托性格乖张，自我意识强烈。书中还围绕着黛比的那个小纪念盒展开叙述，这个在故事一开始就丢失的小盒子就成了串联起一系列与故事主题相关的人物的线索。书中的描述恰如其分，夹杂着诗歌、散文以及问答的形式。柔和的故事情节中还包含着大量的人物心情的描写，一群儿时的伙伴站在人生的十字路口，各自畅想着今后的人生。最打动读者的当属书中对人物内心最真实、深刻的刻画，虽然只是略施笔墨，却准确地捕捉到了小主人公们的聪慧可爱，以及他们各自以自我为中心的生活片段。青少年无疑会关注这些人物的自我意识和每个人身上的不稳定因素。
Excerpt from the Book
节 选
She wished something would happen.
She wished it while she was looking at a magazine.
The magazine was her sister Chrisanne’s; so was the bed she was sitting on and the sweater Debbie had decided to borrow after coming into Chrisanne’s room to use her lip gloss. Chrisanne wasn’t there. She had gone off somewhere.
Thinking she should be more specific in case her wish came true, even though it wasn’t an official wish, it was just a thought, Debbie thought, “I wish something different would happen. Something good. To me.”
As she thought it, she wound her finger in the necklace she was wearing, which was her own, then unwound it again. It was a short necklace, and she could only wrap her finger in it twice. At least while it was still around her neck.
The article she was looking at was about how the most important thing was to be yourself. Although the pictures that went with it recommended being someone else. Looking at them together made it seem like you could do both at the same time.
Debbie checked her wish for loopholes, because of all those stories about wishes that come true but cause disasters at the same time. Like King Midas turning his daughter and all of his food into gold. Even in her own life, Debbie remembered that once, when she was little, she had shouted that she wished everyone would just leave her alone. And then everyone did.
The trouble with being too careful about your wishes, though, was that you could end up with a wish so shapeless that it could come true and you wouldn’t even know it, or it wouldn’t matter.
She wrapped the necklace around her finger again, and this time it popped loose, flinging itself from her neck onto a bright, fuzzy photograph of a boy and a girl, laughing, having fun against a backdrop of sparkling water.
Debbie picked up her necklace and jiggled the catch. It stuck sometimes in a partly open position, and the connecting loop could slip out.
Something like that, she thought, looking at the photo. Wondering if it would require being a different person.
In a way that doesn’t hurt anyone or cause any natural disasters, she added, out of habit.
Fastening the chain back around her neck, trying to tell by feel whether the catch had closed, she thought of another loophole. Hoping it wasn’t too late to tack on one more condition, she thought the word soon.
The wish floated off, and she turned the page.
她希望有事情发生。
当她看杂志的时候，她就这么希望着。
这本杂志是姐姐克莉丝安妮的；她现在坐的这张床也是姐姐的，而且当她来到克莉丝安妮的房间涂抹姐姐的润唇膏后，她就已经决定向姐姐借那件羊毛衫。克莉丝安妮并不在。她去了别的什么地方。
一旦愿望实现，她就会变得更与众不同，尽管它并不是一个正式场合许下的愿望，只不过是个想法罢了，黛比暗自想到：我希望会有一些不同的事情发生。一些好事，发生在我身上。
当她这样想着，她用手指一圈一圈地绕着颈上的项链，这可是她自己的项链，然后她又把手指松开。这条项链并不长，她只能用手指绕两圈，因为毕竟项链还戴在脖子上。
她正看的那篇文章是关于如何把最重要的事物变成你自己的。虽然配图上的人物是别的什么人，可是当你看到文章和配图时，你就会感觉自己在同一时刻也可以做到这些。
黛比仔细回想了一下自己的愿望是否有漏洞，因为有很多故事告诉她如果愿望实现了，灾难也会同时降临。正如迈达斯实现了自己的愿望，却把女儿和食物都变成了金子。就她自己而言，黛比记得小时候有一次她大声喊叫，希望能自己一个人待着，结果大家都离开了她。
可是对愿望过于小心也会带来麻烦，因为有时你许下的愿望还没有一个完整的构想就告终了，以至于愿望实现时你都没有意识到，或许它根本就无关紧要。
她再次用手指缠绕着项链，可是项链却从她的脖子上脱落下来，掉在一张色彩明亮却不很清楚的合影照片上。照片上是一个欢笑的男孩和女孩，背景是波光粼粼的水面。
黛比捡起了项链，晃了晃扣环。扣环有些松动，所以挂钩才会滑出来。
有些事就像这样，她看着照片想道。心里有些疑惑，还要不要成为什么别的人。
她习惯地补充了一点，就是在某种程度上不要伤害到任何人或带来什么自然灾害。
用手在脖子后面把项链系牢，感觉扣环已经闭合，她又想起了一个遗漏的地方。她很快地把这句话考虑了一下以便能够及时添加到许过的愿望后面。
愿望在脑海里闪过，她合上了书。
咪菲 摘译自Popular Novel
As the title and caption imply, this story reads like a series of intersecting vignettes—all focused on 14-year-old Debbie and her friends as they leave childhood behind. Debbie, who wishes that something would happen so she’ll be a different person, and Hector, who feels he is unfinished, narrate most of the novel. Both are 14 years old. Hector is a fabulous character with a wry humor and an appealing sense of self-awareness. The book also involves Debbie’s locket, which goes missing in the beginning of the tale and is passed around by a number of characters, emphasizing the theme of the book. The descriptive, measured writing includes poems, prose and question-and-answer formats. There is a great deal of humor in this gentle story about a group of childhood friends facing the crossroads of life and how they wish to live it. Best of all are the understated moments, often private and piercing in their authenticity, that capture intelligent, likable teens searching for signs of who they are, and of who they’ll become. Young teens will certainly relate to the self-consciousnesses and uncertainty of all of the characters, each of whom is straining toward clarity and awareness.
正如标题所暗示的那样，这个故事读起来就像是一系列小故事的大串连，主要人物有14岁的黛比以及周围的小伙伴，他们一起告别了童年。黛比希望能够发生一些事从而使自己变成另一个人；赫克托觉得自己还没有完全长大，他讲述了书中的大多数故事。他们两个人都是14岁。赫克托性格乖张，自我意识强烈。书中还围绕着黛比的那个小纪念盒展开叙述，这个在故事一开始就丢失的小盒子就成了串联起一系列与故事主题相关的人物的线索。书中的描述恰如其分，夹杂着诗歌、散文以及问答的形式。柔和的故事情节中还包含着大量的人物心情的描写，一群儿时的伙伴站在人生的十字路口，各自畅想着今后的人生。最打动读者的当属书中对人物内心最真实、深刻的刻画，虽然只是略施笔墨，却准确地捕捉到了小主人公们的聪慧可爱，以及他们各自以自我为中心的生活片段。青少年无疑会关注这些人物的自我意识和每个人身上的不稳定因素。
Excerpt from the Book
节 选
She wished something would happen.
She wished it while she was looking at a magazine.
The magazine was her sister Chrisanne’s; so was the bed she was sitting on and the sweater Debbie had decided to borrow after coming into Chrisanne’s room to use her lip gloss. Chrisanne wasn’t there. She had gone off somewhere.
Thinking she should be more specific in case her wish came true, even though it wasn’t an official wish, it was just a thought, Debbie thought, “I wish something different would happen. Something good. To me.”
As she thought it, she wound her finger in the necklace she was wearing, which was her own, then unwound it again. It was a short necklace, and she could only wrap her finger in it twice. At least while it was still around her neck.
The article she was looking at was about how the most important thing was to be yourself. Although the pictures that went with it recommended being someone else. Looking at them together made it seem like you could do both at the same time.
Debbie checked her wish for loopholes, because of all those stories about wishes that come true but cause disasters at the same time. Like King Midas turning his daughter and all of his food into gold. Even in her own life, Debbie remembered that once, when she was little, she had shouted that she wished everyone would just leave her alone. And then everyone did.
The trouble with being too careful about your wishes, though, was that you could end up with a wish so shapeless that it could come true and you wouldn’t even know it, or it wouldn’t matter.
She wrapped the necklace around her finger again, and this time it popped loose, flinging itself from her neck onto a bright, fuzzy photograph of a boy and a girl, laughing, having fun against a backdrop of sparkling water.
Debbie picked up her necklace and jiggled the catch. It stuck sometimes in a partly open position, and the connecting loop could slip out.
Something like that, she thought, looking at the photo. Wondering if it would require being a different person.
In a way that doesn’t hurt anyone or cause any natural disasters, she added, out of habit.
Fastening the chain back around her neck, trying to tell by feel whether the catch had closed, she thought of another loophole. Hoping it wasn’t too late to tack on one more condition, she thought the word soon.
The wish floated off, and she turned the page.
她希望有事情发生。
当她看杂志的时候，她就这么希望着。
这本杂志是姐姐克莉丝安妮的；她现在坐的这张床也是姐姐的，而且当她来到克莉丝安妮的房间涂抹姐姐的润唇膏后，她就已经决定向姐姐借那件羊毛衫。克莉丝安妮并不在。她去了别的什么地方。
一旦愿望实现，她就会变得更与众不同，尽管它并不是一个正式场合许下的愿望，只不过是个想法罢了，黛比暗自想到：我希望会有一些不同的事情发生。一些好事，发生在我身上。
当她这样想着，她用手指一圈一圈地绕着颈上的项链，这可是她自己的项链，然后她又把手指松开。这条项链并不长，她只能用手指绕两圈，因为毕竟项链还戴在脖子上。
她正看的那篇文章是关于如何把最重要的事物变成你自己的。虽然配图上的人物是别的什么人，可是当你看到文章和配图时，你就会感觉自己在同一时刻也可以做到这些。
黛比仔细回想了一下自己的愿望是否有漏洞，因为有很多故事告诉她如果愿望实现了，灾难也会同时降临。正如迈达斯实现了自己的愿望，却把女儿和食物都变成了金子。就她自己而言，黛比记得小时候有一次她大声喊叫，希望能自己一个人待着，结果大家都离开了她。
可是对愿望过于小心也会带来麻烦，因为有时你许下的愿望还没有一个完整的构想就告终了，以至于愿望实现时你都没有意识到，或许它根本就无关紧要。
她再次用手指缠绕着项链，可是项链却从她的脖子上脱落下来，掉在一张色彩明亮却不很清楚的合影照片上。照片上是一个欢笑的男孩和女孩，背景是波光粼粼的水面。
黛比捡起了项链，晃了晃扣环。扣环有些松动，所以挂钩才会滑出来。
有些事就像这样，她看着照片想道。心里有些疑惑，还要不要成为什么别的人。
她习惯地补充了一点，就是在某种程度上不要伤害到任何人或带来什么自然灾害。
用手在脖子后面把项链系牢，感觉扣环已经闭合，她又想起了一个遗漏的地方。她很快地把这句话考虑了一下以便能够及时添加到许过的愿望后面。
愿望在脑海里闪过，她合上了书。
咪菲 摘译自Popular Novel