TOXIC LOVE is a distinctive collection of short stories by Linda Holeman, each exploring love it all its touching, tragic, and often funny permutations. In the title story Toxic Love, Carla is an intellectual with a stutter, a dweeb. She's also an incurable romantic. Feeling isolated in her country town, she tries to dream up romances for her English teacher, Miss Kleinfeld, and a handsome colleague. Carla is shocked from her giggly wishful daydreams when she realizes that Miss Kleinfeld's love was never available. In the hilarious Something Fishy the narrator is looking for some excitement in her ho-hum suburban life, and almost without meaning to, she tells a whopper of a lie. The excitement is more that she bargained for. First published in 1995 as SAYING GOOD-BYE, this brilliant collection of works by Linda Holeman navigates through the landscape of adolescence with sympathy and heart. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.