Criss Cross

Criss Cross (2005) is a Newberry Award-winning middle grade novel by American children’s writer Lynne Rae Perkins. Set in the fictional town of Seldem in the 1970s, Criss Cross traces the protagonist Debbie’s coming-of-age experiences in the summer she turns 14. The title refers to how people’s lives intersect—or “criss cross”—through chance meetings and friendships. This happens to Debbie when her neighbor’s grandson, Peter, comes to visit. She develops feelings for him and wonders if he’s the good thing she’s been waiting for. Written from the third-person omniscient point of view and using “criss-crossing” narrative plot lines, the novel explores existential themes, including the Journey Towards Self-Discovery, the Search for Meaning and Understanding, and the Importance of Friendship and Connection.

Criss Cross is a continuation of Debbie’s story from Perkins’s 1999 novel All Alone in the Night.

This guide refers to the 2005 HarperCollins Children’s Books hardback edition of the novel.

Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide include discussion of mental illness, chronic illness, substance use, and death.

Plot Summary

Fourteen-year-old Debbie sneaks into her older sister’s room. She borrows her sister’s clothes and accessories and flips through her magazines. The glossy pages make Debbie wonder if she might become someone different. She doesn’t know how to change but is desperate for something interesting to happen to her. She twists her gold necklace around her finger and makes a wish that she’ll be transformed or that some miracle will occur.

Meanwhile, Debbie’s neighbor and friend, Hector, watches his older sister Rowanne from his place in the hallway and reflects on his identity. Hector and Rowanne look a lot alike, but Hector feels ugly and awkward compared to his self-assured 17-year-old sibling. Rowanne interrupts Hector’s thoughts when she invites him to attend a coffeehouse event at the local community college.

At the event, Hector is awed by one of the guitarist’s performances. He decides that learning the guitar might not be that difficult and that music creates a connection to the cosmos. After the event, he shares his thoughts with Rowanne, and she encourages him to pick up the instrument. Later, Hector’s mom arranges for him to take guitar lessons with their pastor in the local church basement. The guitar class is composed of a few older students and several of Hector’s peers—the football star Dan, the enigmatic Meadow, and the awkward but congenial Russell. Hector develops immediate feelings for Meadow but feels defeated when he sees her and Dan talking together.

After school ends for the summer, Debbie spends her days sun tanning in the yard or lying awake, talking to her best friend, Patty, late into the night. Debbie can’t stop thinking about Dan, whose locker used to be next to hers. Patty doesn’t know if Dan likes Debbie but listens to her express her feelings. Meanwhile, the friends talk about fate, chance, God, and serendipity. They also discuss changing fashion trends. One day, the two climb into a rhododendron bush in their neighborhood to don more fashionable outfits without their mothers seeing. Neither Debbie nor Patty’s mom approves of the latest 1970s fads, but Debbie and Patty are desperate to fit in. While changing, Debbie fails to notice her necklace fall off, and a chipmunks run off with the chain.

Shortly thereafter, Russell discovers Debbie’s necklace in the neighborhood and tucks it into his jacket pocket. He carries it around for days. Then one day at the local Tastee-Freez, the necklace falls out of his jacket and onto Dan’s picnic table. Dan snatches and pockets it, too. It later falls out of a hole in his pocket. Local girls discover it in town and place it on the back of Rowanne’s nearby parked car. The necklace then falls off the trunk while Rowanne is driving. It lands in some wet tar on the road and gets stuck. Hector later finds the necklace and decides to give it to Debbie.

On Saturdays, Debbie visits her elderly neighbor Mrs. Bruning. She helps Mrs. Bruning with housework but also enjoys her company. One day, Mrs. Bruning’s grandson, Peter, comes to visit. He and Debbie clean the house together and engage in deep conversation throughout. They enjoy discussing the same topics and are both eager to do more exploring. One afternoon, they take the bus to the neighboring town of New Bridge. When they return, Debbie feels changed.

After Peter’s visit ends, he leaves Seldem to return home. Debbie feels despondent. Unsure what to make of her and Peter’s short-lived connection, Debbie goes to Patty and Rowanne for romantic advice. At the block party one night, she and Rowanne sit on the roof and discuss love and fate. Then Debbie sits with Hector. While humming along to his guitar playing, she reflects on her experiences. Finally, Hector returns Debbie’s necklace. He knots it around her neck. The necklace takes on a narrative voice and remarks on Hector and Debbie’s relationship: They’ve missed their chance at romantic connection this summer, but they’ll have other opportunities for their relationship to grow in the future.