A thoughtful, light read celebrating a universal emotion.
Curated from Rookie, an online magazine dedicated to teens and founded in 2011 by a then-15-year-old Gevinson, this anthology offers tales of love from 45 different, diverse voices.
Janet Mock professes unrequited love as a transgender girl of color who has an intense crush on the boy who lives two doors down from her. White writer Emma Straub describes the love affair she has with stories and how literature has been the soundtrack to her life, influencing her personal choices as well as her approach to writing. A delightful chapter, “Binary Planets Writing,” chronicles the relationship of black sisters Ogechi and Ugochi Egonu, growing together and then apart, showing that the love that exists within twinship doesn’t always mean sameness. Queer artist Sunny Betz offers a three-page comic about finally meeting an online friend in person when they decide to hit the road to see their favorite band. In “Karma,” African-American actress Gabourey Sidibe crafts a confessional of how, when true love escaped her at a young age, she chose to use her partners to get the attention and affection she felt she needed with a boomerang effect that she feels has led to her current lonely, single status. Containing poetry, essays, interviews, graphic short stories, and fiction, covering doggie love, Arthurian love, and grandmother love, the book offers a niche of love that all women can connect to.
A thoughtful, light read celebrating a universal emotion. (Anthology. 12-18)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-448-49399-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.
Testa’s connection to and respect for nature compelled her to begin championing animal causes at the age of 10, and this desire to have an impact later propelled her to dedicate her life to fighting plastic pollution. Starting with the history of plastic and how it’s produced, Testa acknowledges the benefits of plastics for humanity but also the many ways it harms our planet. Instead of relying on recycling—which is both insufficient and ineffective—she urges readers to follow two additional R’s: “refuse” and “raise awareness.” Readers are encouraged to do their part, starting with small things like refusing to use plastic straws and water bottles and eventually working up to using their voices to influence business and policy change. In the process, she highlights other youth advocates working toward the same cause. Short chapters include personal examples, such as observations of plastic pollution in Mauritius, her maternal grandparents’ birthplace. Testa makes her case not only against plastic pollution, but also for the work she’s done, resulting in something of a college-admissions–essay tone. Nevertheless, the first-person accounts paired with science will have an impact on readers. Unfortunately, no sources are cited and the lack of backmatter is a missed opportunity.
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22333-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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