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Cricket Magazine Group
$35.97 six-issue subscription ($7.95 single issue)
128 pages

First there was Cricket, a wonderful magazine begun in 1973 for kids ages 9 to 14. Eventually came Spider and Ladybug for the younger crew. But what to do when you've reached your teens, when you (oh, horrors!) outgrow Cricket?!

Despair no more. Now there is Cicada, for ages 14 and up. It is strictly a literary magazine: short fiction, poetry, and essays, plus the occasional cartoon or review. There are plenty of places to read nonfiction elsewhere, but good, intelligent short fiction can be hard to find, unless someone makes a place for it. The editors of Cicada seem happy to oblige.

They bring to Cicada all of Cricket's reputation, experience, and good judgement for high literary quality. The magazine is nearing the close of its third year, with seventeen issues under its belt, and judging by the comments in the letters pages, it should be here to stay.

Each 128-page issue contains an eclectic mix of original and reprinted material. The reprinted pieces may be classic Dostoevsky or Jack London, or even just that great story you read in Bruce Coville's Odder Than Ever just two years ago. The original material is just as likely to be by an established author, a first-timer, or someone in between. Some Cicada readers have complained that too many stories are depressing and angst-ridden; this is probably more a function of the short story genre itself rather than a writer's or editor's perception that teens want to read teen-angst. Humor is hard, and Cicada's editors do an admirable job in filling the pages with a variety of genres: sports, science fiction, mainstream, fantasy, historical, and humor. The magazine is liberally illustrated in a variety of artistic styles. And for the aspiring young writer, poet or artist, the editors are perfectly willing to consider reader submissions.

$36 for a six-issue, bimonthly subscription (the cover price for a single issue is $7.95) may seem a little steep, but the quality Cicada offers is definitely worth it. (And there are no ads eating up the precious pages, only a couple of annoying, stiff subscription inserts.) Just think Cricket for high school and college students. You'll take a long time - if ever! - to outgrow this one.

Reviewed by Wendy Morris. © 2001 by Wendy Morris

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