Before reading this anthology, I struggled to enjoy short stories. I would pick up a collection of them, read one or two, then put it down and never pick it up again. This collection completely changed my opinion about them! The incredibly interesting and diverse characters and plots made this anthology an absolute joy to read. At the end, I wanted more! I so appreciate this collection for introducing me to some new authors whose works I will definitely be reading in the future.

Overall: 44/60 stars=3.5 stars which rounds to 4 stars.

I really enjoyed the anthology. It is definitely a necessity to any school library, but I hope that it makes its way into many hands of students, teachers, administration, and parents. Fresh Ink is a wonderful and quick look in to cultures that we may not all be familiar with, but it also shows how on the inside we are all the same. I could see myself in most of these characters and found them very easily related to.

Eraser Tattoo by Jason Reynolds: 2 stars
Cute. A sweet story of two neighbors who have grown up near each other and of course have fallen for each other but one is about to move away.

Meet Cute by Malinda Lo: 2 stars
Honestly, I would have given this story one star, but it gets two because it is takes place at a comic-con in Denver, when the lights go out. That's basically the entire story for you. The main characters wander around lost. It was a bit hard to follow most of the time, but cute.

Don't Pass Me By Eric Gansworth: 4 stars
I loved how this story showed our main character stand up for not only what he believes in, but for his people and race. He grew up on an Indian Reservation and has now been thrust into middle school with all kinds of students. During a health class lesson where the boys are told to color in body parts, he is only given "Peach" and "Burnt Sienna" to color the body he is given to work on. He realizes that these colors do not represent him and finds a way around it, upsetting his teacher, but showing a great display of character.

Be Cool for Once by Aminah Mae Safi: 4 stars
Shirin is a typical "good girl." She gets good grades, listens to her parents, and doesn't go out. This time though, she uses a powerpoint to convince her parents to allow her to go to a concert where she runs into her mega-crush, Jeffrey. After some crazy prompting and following her best friend's advice, she does the impossible and reveals her feelings to him. This story was a fun look into every "good girl's" mind and how they try to please their parents as well as do what they want and has a great display of that inner struggle.

Tags by Walter Dean Myers: 4 stars
Well then... After reading this one you feel a bit douche-y giving it less than 5 stars but it is heart-wrenching and great. It was a bit hard to follow at first, but after some glancing back and forth, it is a good, quick play. Fans of Jason Reynolds' Long Way Down and Angie Thomas or Nic Stone will enjoy this one. It is about four dead kids who are trying to be remembered by tagging walls before they get forgotten, but they come to find out that one was killed by one of the others in their "hallway."
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Why I Learned to Cook by Sara Farizan: 5 stars
I LOVED this story! The main character is worried about introducing her girlfriend to her grandmother, whom she is very close to. Yasaman invites her girlfriend over to her grandmother's house for dinner after she has spent weeks learning how to cook authentic Persian food. It was an eye-opening, sweet story about worries we all have about introducing a significant other to family, but a delightful look in to a different culture as well. Grandmothers are always the same sassy characters, though, and this one was no different.

A Stranger at the Bochinche by Daniel Jose Older: 0 stars.
I didn't care for this story at all. It felt sloppy-like it was just pulled out of a book and thrown in with no real context or relativity. I just wasn't taken by it as with the other stories.

A Boy's Duty by Sharon G. Flake: 3 stars.
This story is about a boy who ran away from his family farm where he learned how to work hard and had a family for a life on the streets. He has spent most of his time on the street stealing and pick-pocketing, but has come to feel regretful about it. He tries to do better by staying and working in a Mom and Pop type restaurant that he painted a mural of the galaxy in. His old, thieving friends come and try to convince him to take up his old ways, but this time his choices are different.

One Voice: A Something in Between Story by Melissa de la Cruz: 5 stars
I think this story is so important right now as we are in a time where immigrants and women both feel out of place. Yen-Yen is studying at Stanford and is personally hurt by some cruel graffiti painted onto a wall in the quad. As the story continues, she struggles with having an undocumented family and not wanting to have to leave Stanford as well as with being sexually harassed and still feeling attacked by the graffiti that is still in the quad. She finds hope in a rally where others try to spread positivity. I thought this story was relatable in any situation and explores how we should try to see the views of others before we make assumptions.

Paladin/Samurai by Gene Luen Yang, Illustrated by Thien Pham: 5 stars
A GRAPHIC STORY IN AN ANTHOLOGY!? YES!!! *fist pump* This simply drawn story has a HUGE voice. It starts off with a group of friends playing an adventure game (reminded me of D&D) when Owen, our main character, wants to be a Samurai in the game. After an argument about him being a samarai, he leaves to a party across the street, where his two friends follow him. After a bully makes his friends leave, Owen punches him and wins his friends and the interest of a girl. A great demonstration of standing up for your friends and not backing down.

Catch, Pull, Drive by Schuyler Bailar: 5 stars
I LOVED this story as well! It exemplifies inner strength and fighting for something that you want, know you can have, and deserve. It is about a trans-gender boy who has very recently come out. He only wants to be accepted on his swim team by the other boys. I loved that Tommy had a supportive mother because this can show not only teens but parents how to support a teen in an extremely sensitive time. Tommy shows up to practice after his coming out Facebook post and races one of his friends hoping to beat him to prove that he can be just as good-if not better on this boys' team than the his performance on the girls' team.

​Super Human by Nicola Yoon: ALL OF THE STARS! (OK, ok, five.)
OMG! When do we crown Nicola Yoon? Seriously, it is like everything the woman writes is magical. She takes a simple idea-a superhero who wants destroy humans instead of saving them-and makes it so much more. This particular hero is also black. And this hero is also tired of humans being so concerned with race. And this hero makes us think about so much more than just race. Nicola shows us the arguments and counterarguments that can be used to save humans, which are used when the Syrita is sent to convince X, our superhero, to change his mind. It was FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC! A perfect short story and way to end this anthology.

In the introduction, Lamar Giles, editor of FRESH INK: AN ANTHOLOGY, talks about not finding himself represented in literature as a child. Or when black young men were characters, they were stereotypes, sidekicks and murder victims. I grew up in a very white small town, never thinking about race until I saw the miniseries Roots. Like Giles, I was a voracious reader. I remember seeing the book ROLL OF THUNDER HEAR MY CRY in the library, passing it over because I had no interest in reading about a black girl. A metaphoric lightbulb flashed in my head, as I wondered how black kids felt always reading about white kids.

FRESH INK is such an important book of short stories, from some of the top names in YA lit including a graphic short story and a one act play. Readers are treated to stories of minority (in the USA) races, religions, sexual orientations and gender expressions in genres from contemporary to historical fiction to fantasy. FRESH INK would be a perfect anthology for students. There’s something for everyone and the stories of family, acceptance, love, life and death are universal.

I’ve read most of the writers prior to FRESH INK, so these never before published short stories were an extra treat for me. I hope everyone decides to give FRESH INK a try. You won’t be disappointed.