• Age: 14 to 17

A powerful free-verse novel that intertwines the coming-of-age stories of five teens and their relationships with each other, their parents, and themselves.

Mark, Mr. Popularity, tools around town in the yellow mini left to him by his recently deceased father; his new girlfriend Stacey can't believe her luck, but doesn't understand Mark's odd need to disappear into the woods from time to time; her former friends Mary and Annabelle try to find their place in the world - shy Mary transforms into a concert pianist and Annabelle into an world-changing activist with the idealistic and adoring Christopher by her side. In the background, the teens' parents struggle with their desire to protect their children, yet give them room to grow into the adults they must become. Each voice tells his or her story in powerful free verse.

Lori Weber is the author of eight young adult novels, including Yellow Mini, a novel in verse, and Deep Girls, a short—story collection; one historical middle grade novel, Lightning Lou; and one picture book, My Granny Loves Hockey. A native Montrealer, she lived for several years in Atlantic Canada; upon returning to Montreal, she began teaching English at Vanier College in 1994 before moving to John Abbott College in 1996, a position she recently retired from. She has delivered workshops in writing for teens through the Quebec Writers' Federation. Lori currently lives in Dorval, Quebec, where she hopes to do more writing, taking inspiration from the beautiful Lac Saint Louis at her doorstep.

Lori Weber's profile page

"Told in several first person perspectives, this free-verse tale is full of high-school drama and is perfect for lit-loving teens."
-- Canadian Family magazine

Yellow Mini

Mark, king of the popular crowd, drives around town in the yellow Mini he received from his recently deceased father; his girlfriend of the month, Stacey, feels at once so lucky and so unsure about some of his behaviour; her ex-friends Mary and Annabelle try to find their place in the world as a concert pianist and an activist respectively. Christopher discovers who he is, side by side with Annabelle. In between the tales of these five teens, some of their parents’ hopes for their children are explored, rounding out an already powerful novel.

Though Lori Weber is a seasoned author, in Yellow Mini, she steps confidently in a new direction — the verse-novel format. Readers of contemporary young adult fiction will delight in the diverse range of teen voices. As in many coming-of-age stories, each of the characters faces a major life change, and the resolution of these issues always rings true. Weber’s use of metaphor bridges the gaps between various narrators and their storylines in worthwhile ways. For example, music is the major theme of Mary’s narrative, but it also pops up in the other main characters’ stories. Similarly, she makes great use of matching the shape or form of a poem to its content.

Yellow Mini is the rare YA novel that actually has illustrations, but unfortunately, they distract the reader. Nevertheless, this novel is recommended for its use of poetic language, which brings together the various perspectives, and for the potential to transform the poetry wary into verse novel aficionados.

Yellow Mini

A powerful free-verse novel that intertwines the coming-of-age stories of five teens and their relationships with each other, their parents and themselves. This novel introduces you to Mark, Mr. Popularity who drives a yellow mini and his girlfriend Stacey, who doesn’t understand why Mark likes to disappear from time to time; Mary, a concert pianist; Annabelle, an anti-consumer activist and the adoring Christopher, who wants to study the stars.