I liked this book! It’s full of empowering stories for young women! There’s so much hidden strength in each of the main characters that is released in very believable ways! I would definitely recommend this book to a young woman who needs to realize how strong she is!

There was once a time when while reviewing an anthology, I would review every single story within it. I don’t do that anymore because 1. I am lazy but 2. I don’t think anyone really wants to read a review of EVERY SINGLE short story in an anthology because thats a lot to read and most people will pick an anthology up even if it has a couple mediocre short stories. Also, like, I do want to say I am definitely appreciative of the people who do review every single story and you guys are great. ANYWAY. The Radical Element is chockfull of some of the best YA writers right now and it ups the ante from A Tyranny of Petticoats. Tyranny certainly won my heart in 2016 but we still needed a lot more intersectional stories and that’s what we got in 2018.

The first couple stories didn’t really blow me away though. They had strong character arcs but almost no plot whatsoever and if you know anything about me, you know I am a plot gal. I love my characters and //want// a good character arc but if there is no plot, I am not gonna be a v. happy gal.

Fortunately, a lot of the other stories did have plot arcs and gave me exactly what I wanted. Good characters, a good story and some good times.

Top 3 Stories

Glamour by Anna-Marie McLemore

I’ve only attempted to read one book by McLemore (which didn’t work out because of issues with pacing) but I NEED MORE OKAY? This short totally blew me away

When The Moonlight Wasn’t Enough by Dhonielle Clayton

This story explores the very real question of how to be patriotic in a country that hates you. It’s incredibly well written and has a dash of magic. Honestly, Glamour may be my favorite story but I think When the Moonlight Wasn’t Enough may be the most powerful one within this anthology and really important in this decade.

Take Me With You by Sara Farizan

Truly just a story of friendship and finding yourself in a true place. Honestly, I actually really want a full length novel with these characters. There is a larger story to be told here.

Anthologies are so hard for me to rate. Like A Tyranny of Petticoats I liked the overall theme of girls who challenged the status quo. These girls were ahead of their times, marginalized by the societies for which they lived, and were viewed unconventional or dangerous, whether by virtue of their race, religion, sexuality, disability, gender, or the profession they were pursuing. I appreciated the diverse cast of characters and did enjoy quite a few of these stories. I just think short stories are just not my forte. They are just to "short" for me. The ones I enjoyed always leave me wanting more. Overall, I appreciate that many of these stories had great messages for girls.
I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Radical Element is the sequel to A Tyranny Of Petticoats and both are anthologies of feminist stories by an impressive collection of popular YA authors! While anthologies are always difficult to rate and review, because you will always like some of the stories more than others, I thoroughly enjoyed every story in this collection. The Radical Element is an intersectional examination on female struggle and empowerment, spanning over time and distance. It is a book about women, by women, for women. It encourages respect, love, and equality across economic, age, racial, and cultural gaps. While this, as well as the first collection in the series, are definite Must Reads for all young female readers, I would also most certainly suggest it to any male reader looking to support women and broaden his understanding of feminism.

The Radical Element was the second anthology in the series of Tyranny of Petticoats and follows the stories of girls "who were outsiders and/or radical in their communities, whether by virtue of their race, religion, sexuality, disability, gender, or the profession they were pursuing" and did everything in their power to change their life for the better, following their dreams and hopes.

It was a good collection of short stories. Some I loved more than others, but in general they were all worth reading.

Daughter of the book - Dahlia Adler 4/5
You're a stranger here - Mackenzi Lee 2/5
The Magician - Erin Bowman 4/5
Lady Firebrand - Megan Shepherd 5/5
Step Right Up - Jessica Spotswood 4/5
Glamour - Anna Marie McLemore 2/5
Better for all the world - Marieke Nijkamp. 2.5/5
When the moonlight isn't enough - Dhonielle Clayton 4/5
The Belle of the ball - Sarvenaz Tash 3/5
Land of the sweet, home of the brave - Stacey Lee 2.75/5
The birth of Susi go-go - Meg Medina 3/5
Take Me with U - Sara Farizan 3/5

Anthologies are hard to review and rate.
The stories are short and straight to the point so you are not going to find too much depth in them. The main subject of the stories it is 'girls who find their way in an atmosphere where everything has against them'. I think is the best way I can describe the book in one sentence.
The stories take place in the US, the authors did their best including as much representation as they could, as their own background provide them.
There are a couple stories I didn't enjoy but in general I enjoyed the book.
I haven't read any book of the authors so now I have a much clear idea of their writing style and I hope I can keep reading some more of them.
My reading experience is 3.5/5 but I would highly recommend this book especially to the YA readers...!

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

Based on the first few stories I wasn't sure I was going to like this anthology but it appears the best ones were just later on. I really enjoyed this anthology and how all the authors took the whole premise of "The Radical Element" and used it to expose stories many of us might not know. I appreciated how all the girls featured were "radical" in small ways, most of them didn't do anything super crazy, but they were independent thinkers and able to rebel in their own small ways. A lot of these stories covered topics I didn't know too much about as well, which has spurred further research on my part and I can imagine it would do the same for many other readers. Individual reviews for each story are below:

Daughter of the book by Dahlia Adler - 3 stars
I really never thought about how Jewish education might've been for girls

You're A Stranger Here by Mackenzi Lee - 3 stars,
This was just kind of boring for the most part and by the time I started getting into the story it was over.

The Magician by Erin Bowman - 3.5 stars, I didn't really like the main character at all, but the story kept me pretty engaged and the writing was well done until the last line which felt very out of place

Lady Firebrand by Megan Shepard - 3.5 stars, An interesting idea but the story was just too much crammed into to few pages.

Step Right Up by Jessica Spotswood - 4 stars, The best story yet, I really liked the descriptions of the circus and this did bring tears to my eyes.

Glamour by Anna Marie McleMore - 5 stars, The best story by far! I really loved this one, and it features everything I love: magical realism, beautiful writing, and diversity

Better For All The World by Marieke Nijkamp - 4 stars, A good story and taught me something about eugenics which I know very little about. I also appreciate that this story was told from the perspective of someone on the autism spectrum.

When Moonlight Isn't Enough by Dhonielle Clayton - 4 stars, an interesting story and I appreciated the authors note for this one.

The Belle of The Ball by Sarvenaz Tash - 4 stars, I appreciated the I Love Lucy reference

Land of The Sweet, Home of The Brave by Stacey Lee - 4 stars, short and sweet (heh)

The Birth of Susi Go-Go by Meg Medina - 4 stars, This was definitely one of the "quieter" stories, but I thought it was interesting to have a glimpse of a a girl in the Cuban exile community in the 70s

Take Me With U by Sara Farizan - 4 stars, A great end to the anthology.

WOMEN ARE STRONG AND INDEPENDENT and that was the most important thing I wanted to say.

I really needed an anthology about this, about girls, all sorts of girls doing what they want to do, in different times. The stories were really diverse and I learned a lot about the history of other cultures and that's a thing I want to see more in books. It's very important to read about how women's lives change from periods and what they do about it even when the world looks down upon them.

I enjoyed basically all of the stories, some more than others, and I discovered new authors who made me want to read their other books. I'm very glad I get to read this anthology.

Overall it was quite an interesting collection of short stories. I was pleasantly surprised to see that all the stories had such a variety of diverse characters in them, and that the authors spoke through all of the things they had to lived in the past but empowering them at the same time.

My favourites definitely were Glamour, The Magician and Better for All the World. Not only all of them had a beautiful writing style, but also they were the most unique out of all of them. I loved the main characters and their journey throughout the novella.

I had a few issues with a couple of short stories. It could be that the story didn’t really grab me, or simply that I had a few issues with the characters and/or writing, but overall I think it was a solid collection about women.

I thought this was a great addition to the Tyranny of Petticoats series! All of these stories are centered around young women, and these women are very diverse in their backgrounds and identities (though all stories take place in the USA). As with all anthologies, there are stories that I liked more than others but overall I think the range and quality of this collection made it a worthwhile read.

As an American girl in the past and the present the decision to respect yourself can sometimes be challenging and radical. You have to face it whether you're neurodivergent, a second-generation immigrant, or facing racism. Self-respect is the only decision when you've weighed societal expectations and found them wanting. In this anthology, twelve talented YA authors present stories of all sorts of girls from all colors and creeds standing up for themselves and their beliefs from the 1830s to the 1980s. Are you ready to join them?

The Radical Element is a compelling collection of twelve short stories taking place between 1838-1984. My favorites include "The Magician" by Erin Bowman (1858, Colorado River, New Mexico Territory), "Lady Firebrand" by Megan Shepherd (1863, Charleston, South Carolina), "When the Moonlight Isn't Enough" by Dhonielle Clayton (1943, Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts), "The Bell of the Ball" by Sarvenaz Tash (1952, Brooklyn, New York), and "Land of the Sweet, Home of the Brave" by Stacey Lee (1955, Oakland, California). All of the stories in this collection give the reader a good taste of the characters, the setting, and their lives. Of those stories that I mentioned by name, I would absolutely love to see a full length novel about Lady Firebrand's daring adventures and I'm dying for more from the world of "When the Moonlight Isn't Enough". Clayton's story is the only one that features a dash of fantasy and I couldn't get enough. There's so much more that could be explored whether we follow the main character, her parents, or what happens just after the short story in this collection ends.

Overall, The Radical Element edited by Jessica Spotswood is a perfect read for Women's History Month. I love how the authors of the short stories so expertly blend historical fact with fiction (and in one case a dash of fantasy). This anthology is incredibly inspirational and is put together by some of the best names in the business. I absolutely need to pick up a copy of the companion collection called A Tyranny of Petticoats in the future.

I'm usually not a big fan of anthologies but this one just sounded too good to pass (and "A Tyranny of Petticoats" has been on my wishlist for ages). "The Radical Element" has its ups and downs and, as I expected, I liked some stories way more than others but all of them highlight people whose stories too often don't get told. I was a bit disappointed that unlike the first volume this one didn't feature a f/f story, but that's mostly personal preference, and considering that these books contain stories about American history from the views of marginalised groups it's kind of disappointing that they don't feature #ownvoices Native American characters/stories.

4 stars for the overall collection
For my first YA anthology, this was really solid. My favorite stories were by: Megan Shepherd, Dahlia Adler, Sarvenaz Tash, Dhonielle Clayton, Stacey Lee and Mackenzi Lee. I only skipped two stories which was pretty good. I'll definitely be reading more YA anthologies in the future! Definitely recommend this one especially if you love YA historical fiction.

*I was sent an arc from netgalley in exchange for a free/honest review
This was a fun, quick anthology to fly through. It had colour and energy, and there were a few stand out stories but they were the more diverse ones, featuring woc or lgbtqia women (though the lgbt+ ones were a little thin on the ground. In fact I think there might have only been two, so I think that could be improved). I think this is a nice place to start if you want to get into reading feminist stories as the stories are not too long and they are all easy to read and understand, even if you aren't fully aware of the historical context before going into them. I did like that this book felt very hopeful for the futures of all these girls, and I would love to see an anthology like this set somewhere other than america.

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-We2jjls80ao/Wo89p_r6phI/AAAAAAAAIsE/2_WZSCvaGC8pGIthM2y29TRY6wSPy9QFwCLcBGAs/s1600/turning%2Bpages%2Bsculpture.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-We2jjls80ao/Wo89p_r6phI/AAAAAAAAIsE/2_WZSCvaGC8pGIthM2y29TRY6wSPy9QFwCLcBGAs/s320/turning%2Bpages%2Bsculpture.png" width="320" height="307" data-original-width="1158" data-original-height="1110" /></a></div>
<font face="Georgia"> <h3>Welcome to another session of Turning Pages!</h3>

<p><i><b>Synopsis</b></i>: Women who persist aren't a recent innovation. A history of intolerance, which led to insistent female resistance is not an uniquely American story, but one which nonetheless has heralded seismic shifts within our national history. After the success of A TYRANNY OF PETTICOATS, editor Jessica Spotswood brings together twelve new tales of women who were upstarts and outsiders. From the 1830's through the 1980's, these stories, some based on actual events, others fictionalized accounts of historical periods, regale readers with young women who stood up and out as radically different, and in doing so, changed the way the world related to them. Contributors to this collection include young adult authors <b>Jessica Spotswood</b>, who also edited; <b>Dahlia Adler, Mackenzi Lee, Erin Bowman, Megan Shepherd, Anne-Marie McLemore, Marieke Nijkamp, Dhonielle Clayton, Sarvenaz Tash, Stacey Lee, Meg Medina,</b> and <b>Sara Farizan</b>.</p>

<p><i><b>Observations</b></i>: Claiming an identity -- stepping outside of the role and voice assigned -- can be uncomfortable and awkward, intimidating, to downright dangerous and life-threatening. Without a clear idea of how things will end, each of the young women depicted in these stories sets out on a personal journey -- whether its to use her brown hands in the service of her country, when only paler hands are sought, or to make her escape from abuse, or to take her chances in a traditionally masculine world, playing a man's role. Readers will pause thoughtfully to discover these nuanced angles of history -- taking readers out of the realm of mere nostalgia into the realities of the difficulties and challenges of history through the voices of the traditionally excluded and silenced.</p>

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FARNPm9tGDA/Wo9EmvLYkbI/AAAAAAAAIsU/j0WHzf5oNtAIR_o2nnVVmHvjFFVyNILhQCLcBGAs/s1600/29748943.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FARNPm9tGDA/Wo9EmvLYkbI/AAAAAAAAIsU/j0WHzf5oNtAIR_o2nnVVmHvjFFVyNILhQCLcBGAs/s400/29748943.jpg" width="264" height="400" data-original-width="314" data-original-height="475" /></a></div><p>The women's outsider status is significant, as most of these voices are from women in the margins, due to issues of race, religion, sexuality, disability, gender, or professional desire. I appreciated the voices from early in our national history into more recent times. Some of my favorites were the story of the young Jewess, longs to study the Torah, and the Mormon girl who tries to find ties between her new country, and her faith. A Latina drains herself of pigment with the family's magic to bleach herself into the faded shades acceptable for silent films, while brilliant and neurodivergent young woman keenly watches court proceedings to determine the reproductive rights of the mentally unfit. Elsewhere, a half-Japanese girl braves 1950's xenophobia to compete to be the next Miss Sugar, while a young Cuban dons her first pair of go-go boots. The perspectives are fresh, the stories are original, and the anthology is a joy to read.</p>

<p><i><b>Conclusion</b></i>: If you're not a short story aficionado, I think there's still plenty in this novel which will appeal. There's room to read and hop around, and then return to longer stories from time periods which you may not believe will hold your interest. You will be surprised!</p>

<p>In the editor's note, Spotswood outlines the purpose of this collection, and her wish that readers will be able to find themselves within these pages. Even as not a particularly radical individual, I found myself in the bravery and dauntlessness of these heroines, and I believe this book will work well for older middle graders, young adults, and adult readers.</p>
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<hr width=55%><p>I received my copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley. After <b>March 13, 2018</b>, you'll find <a href="http://www.indiebound.org/aff/readersrant7?product=9780763694258"><i>THE RADICAL ELEMENT</i></a> edited by Jessica Spotswood at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!</p>
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The Radical Element is a historical fiction anthology (the second installment) about dauntless, marginalized young women who rebel in their own ways against the constraints of their time.

This is one of those rare moments where the cliché "It's not you, it's me" actually applies.
The older I get, the more I realize I'm just not made for short stories. Each year, I read at least one collection of them (because I like to suffer) and set myself up for disappointment. None of this has anything to do with the actual stories in the collections I decide to read, I'm just problematic AF.
Were the stories in this collection entertaining? Yes. Do I still remember a single storyline/protagonist one week later? Ehhhh...
I've always had tremendous respect for authors who can write short stories (here's looking at you, Victoria Schwab and Leigh Bardugo) because they are so tricky. You need to convey so much in so little time without overwhelming the reader with too much information.
It's a precarious balance to keep someone invested in the outcome of a story that's less than thirty pages while simultaneously making you want to read an entire novel about the characters, and for me, this has always been a problem since I am someone who values characters over plot A LOT.

That being said, I did like the rep in this book, loved that we heard from individuals that are so often glossed over and forgotten in history, and overall enjoyed reading these short stories.

The Radical Element is an inspiring collection of short stories about girls throughout American history who are radical in their own ways. Spanning the early 1800's through the 1980's, these are tales of impressive young women believing in themselves and coming to terms with the often unpleasant realities of their day. They are of diverse religious backgrounds, races, ethnicities, sexualities, and experiences. One story even features a bright, passionate aspiring lawyer who is autistic. While I didn't love every story, many of them were amazing and I loved the breadth of representation.

The stories are arranged in chronological order, which created a narrative flow that I really enjoyed. Two of my favorite stories (by Anna-Marie McLemore and Dhonielle Clayton) use magical realism to deal with the ugliness of racism. In every story, we get a moment with brave heroines, and a window into pieces of history that are rarely found in textbooks. A Jewish community in 1830's Georgia, female spies during the Civil War, Cuban immigrants in 1970's New York, and more. The Radical Element is interesting, thought-provoking, inspiring, and often beautiful. As in any anthology, some stories packed less of a punch, but overall it was very well curated and definitely worth reading. I received an early copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3/5

I am not really the biggest fan of short story collections but reading this was about women in history it got my attention. While I was not a fan of quite a few of the stories included there were some that i absolutely loved and would have liked to see more from. If you're looking to rad about some bad-ass women in history who push the societal norms and take charge of their lives you'll find that here. If you're looking for a collection of stories that features women from different backgrounds, religion, race and culture you'll also find that here. These stories were incredibly diverse and featured a few stories about women with disabilities whether it be physical or mental/emotional, there is something here everyone will enjoy.

My favourite stories were Lady Firebrand and Step Right Up, I would have loved to see more from both of these stories

Daughter of the book - 3/5
You're a stranger there - 1/5
The Magician - 3/5
Lady Firebrand - 4.5/5
Step Right Up - 5/5
Glamour - 3/5
Better for all the world - 3/5
When the moonlight isn't enough - 2.5/5
The Belle of the ball - 3/5
Land of the sweet, home of the brave - 2/5
The birth of susi go-go 2/5
Take me with u - 3/5

I was provided a copy for review via Netgalley

This historical fiction anthology was absolutely fantastic! The stories were well written, entertaining, and enjoyable. "Take Me With U", "When the Moonlight Isn't Enough", and "Lady Firebrand" were all 5 stars, and I would be over the moon to see more from these universes. "For All the World to See" was my absolute FAVORITE story. I hope that there are more anthologies coming, because I absolutely ADORE "Tyranny" and "Radical".