BOUNDLESS

The agonies and ecstasies of adolescence are relayed through the lens of multicultural identities.

Exclusively featuring multiracial and/or multicultural authors, this anthology reflects the painful awkwardness of a bifurcated existence while celebrating a boundless self. Pubescent agonies are in abundance here, from the humiliation of an unrequited crush to the challenges of wrestling with menstrual products. Overlaying them all is the added feeling of isolation from never quite fitting in, sometimes not even in one’s own family. A few stories offer a lighter touch—Goldy Moldavsky’s “Hispanic Jewish Bingo” has Jewish Latino characters debating the ethics of cheating at the synagogue’s charity casino night, and Karen Yin’s “My Kinda Sorta Badass Move” finds a queer Chinese American coming to a new understanding with her tough-as-nails grandmother. While the anthology is packed with acclaimed authors, including Erin Entrada Kelly, Jasmine Warga, Torrey Maldonado, and Randy Ribay, emergent authors like Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson hold their own. Hopson’s “The Perils of Beige” astutely captures smarmy, condescending faux collegiality at a speech and debate competition from the perspective of an African American Inupiaq novice. Vastly different voices show the breadth of multicultural identities, but the collection doesn’t always feel cohesive. There is also a broad range in maturity among the teens depicted: Some are younger-sounding middle school students while other protagonists feel significantly older, making this a collection readers may dip into rather than reading cover to cover.

A worthwhile and sprawling compilation.