I do not typically read anthologies, but this one stood out to me for many reasons. The title and the cover instantly grabbed my attention. Then, when I looked closer at the authors listed, I knew I had to read it. I knew this would be an important book, and I was not disappointed. I really enjoyed the variety of stories, both in content and in style. There are stories that will reach all readers. I believe that everyone will find something to connect to. I believe this is why this anthology was put together, to have a book that would reach so many people, people who have not been reached in literature, but need it so much. We need diversity in literature, and this book has it all. I highly recommend Fresh Ink. I received this book through Net Galley for an honest review.

Great anthology. Would definitely recommend this for libraries, particularly those interested in diverse reads.

I loved this collection. Multiple stories with Muslim protagonists (including a bisexual girl bringing her girlfriend home to her Persian grandmother), gay cosplayers, ghost graffiti artists, a trans boy protagonist written by a trans male author–a great variety of stories from talented authors both established and emerging. The stories maintained a consistently high level of quality throughout the collection, without the usual anthology problem of ups and downs. I'm recommending this to friends and will probably reread it.

Mainly wanted to read this one for the Nicola Yoon short story and it did not disappoint me. The other stories were interesting, too. I enjoyed reading about so many different types of protagonists. Thanks Netgalley for the advanced copy to review.

Averaged rating for the whole book is 4.65 stars — ratings for the individual stories ranged from 2.5 to 5 stars, heavily skewed toward higher ratings as you can see from the average rating.

Rarely do I enjoy anthologies by multiple authors as much as I enjoyed this one. Definitely pick this one up when it comes out!!

My favorites were the one-act play Tags by Walter Dean Myers about the need to leave your mark after you're gone, and Malinda Lo's story Meet Cute about two girls who meet at a convention and bond over cosplaying while each wonders if the other is gay. Special mentions to Daniel José Older's incredibly creative story A Stranger at the Bochinche, the adorableness of Eraser Tattoo by Jason Reynolds, and the gut-punching emotion of Catch, Pull, Drive by Schuyler Bailar.

You need this collection of first loves and disillusioned superheroes and teenagers coming into their own.

Brilliant collection of stories. Where was Fresh Ink when I was an adolescent? I needed these stories. The characters are not only diverse but each story brings a new layer of depth that is rarely found in novels in this genre.

After I was approved for this book and downloaded it, I was so excited to see who some of the authors of this book were! Malinda Lo! Daniel José Older! Gene Luen Yang!

I didn’t know when I requested it - I just wanted to get it to read stories from perspectives that weren’t my own (this book was put out by We Need Diverse Books™). How else will we learn how people live, what people go through? And it delivered.

Malinda Lo doesn’t disappoint!!

And was Daniel José Older’s story a sort of prequel for something else he’s working on?

<i>Don’t Pass Me By</i> was a sweet coming-of-age tale - and one that holds secrets of what it’s like to not grow up privileged.

<i>Why I Learned to Cook</i> was sweet, too.

How appropriate that Walter Dean Myers’s contribution is a script! I read and enjoyed his Monster. I didn’t recognize his name right off when I got the book.

And while I really liked <i>Paladin/Samurai</i>, it felt about as realistic as the D&D game they were playing. Am I cynical?

And top it all off with a superhero tale from Nicola Yoon! (I haven’t read her books. But this story - OMG!)

I thought all of the stories were worthwhile. Recommended!

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for a copy in return for an honest review.</i>

<b>Average Rating: 3.96.</b>

what an anthology!! This is chuck-full of beautiful (and diverse) short stories from all different genres and from so many #OwnVoices authors. I enjoyed almost every single story, which is so rare for me in anthologies.

If you want to read it but don’t want to read every story, my personal recs from this collection are “Eraser Tattoo” by Jason Reynolds, “Tags” by Walter Dean Myers, “Why I Learned to Cook” by Sara Farizan, and “Catch, Pull, Drive” by Schuyler Bailar. They were my faves, but honestly?? Every single story is worth a read, and you should let me know if/when you peruse this so that we can cry together. 😊)))

Every single story has poc rep (woot woot!!), and I marked stories that contain LGBT rep with a 🌈.

<u>“Eraser Tattoo” by Jason Reynolds</u>: ★★★★★
• This was so cute! I’ve only ever read Jason Reynold’s verse novel [book:Long Way Down|22552026] (which I would highly recommend), and this was just as amazing. It was such a cute, kinda sad romance with characters that were more fleshed out over fifteen pages than some books manage over an entire series.

<u>”Meet Cute” by Malinda Lo</u>: ★★ 🌈
• It was okay I guess?? It reminded me a lot of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2188520102?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1">Ship It</a>, but while I loved <i>Ship It</i>, I couldn’t summon anything other than disinterest for this story. Malinda Lo’s pieces of work are always really love-it-or-hate-it for reviewers, and while I personally like a lot of her books, this story just didn’t work well for me. Yeah, it was fandom-y, but the third-person omniscient narration was kind of weird and there wasn’t any chemistry between the two MC’s. It was also, like, twice as long as it needed to be. By the end I was just sitting there like <blockquote><img src="http://mrwgifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Young-Emma-Watson-Bored-In-Harry-Potter.gif" width="220" height="200" alt="description"/></blockquote>
<u>”Don’t Pass Me By” by Eric Gansworth</u>: ★★★★
• This was a short and wonderfully-written story about whitewashing and Indigenous culture in America. The writing style felt a little too mature for the age of the characters, but besides that I loved every bit of it. It brought to light a lot of issues, and it’s so rare to find Native American MC’s these days. An awesome read!

<u>”Be Cool for Once” by Aminah Mae Safi</u>: ★★★★
• Another cute af romance!! This was so adorable and sweet, and Francesca was a hilarious character. The music aspects were also fun to read, and Shirin saying <i>”’What the hell is this?’”</i> immediately when she sees her crush is a) a big mood, and b) so abrupt, yet comical.

<u>“Tags” by Walter Dean Myers</u>: ★★★★★
• When I saw that the anthology was going to include a one-act play, I was like,,,, really??<blockquote><img src="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/3c/4a/e6/3c4ae6c6a792c7f4d7576072770abfa7.jpg" width="400" height="200" alt="description"/></blockquote> Now don’t get me wrong, I love theatre, but I know that a lot of readers are going to be tempted to skip this one simply for the fact that it’s in script form. If you want my advice, it’s this: don’t do that. This is definitely up there with one as one of my new short stories, and I <i>really</i> need to see it on a stage now. Holy crap, it was amazing and I’m pretty sure I teared up at the end.

<u>”Why I Learned to Cook” by Sara Farizan</u>: ★★★★★ 🌈
• <b>This was the “papaw made 12 burgers for his six grandkids and I was the only one to show up” story but with sapphic girls thrown in there</b>. Do I really need to say anything else? I cried. The super sweet ending is so inspiring and comforting, and this made me want to call my grandma and tell her that I love her. Stop reading this review and go tell your grandparents that you love them. Right now.

<u>”A Stranger at the Bochinche” by Daniel José Older</u>: ★
• Yeah,, this one didn’t work for me. It literally took me four days of opening the book, reading the first line of this story, and immediately closing the book to finally sit down and force myself to read it. The beginning didn’t draw me in and I didn’t really connect with any of the characters. The whole campfire setting might work for some other readers, but it definitely didn’t for me.

<u>”A Boy’s Duty” by Sharon G. Flake</u>: ★★★★
• Um, hello, I came here to have a good time and I honestly feel so attacked right now?? Who gave this story the right to rip my heart out?? This was such a bittersweet historical story about World War II and racism on the home front and it made me so emotional. It was cute and sad and the characters were so three-dimensional. A little hard-to-follow sometimes, but still a worthwhile read. Love, love, love.

<u>”One Voice: A Something in Between Story” by Melissa de la Cruz</u>: ★★★★★
• <b>THIS WAS SUCH A GOOD STORY OMG</b>. This is about a girl who is an undocumented immigrant and she goes to Stanford. It’s all about prejudice, racism, and misogyny. It was informative, wonderfully written, and so, so important. I wish it had been longer, solely for the fact that I didn’t want to let go of the characters just yet.

<u>”Paladin/Samurai” by Gene Luen Yang</u>: ★★★
• Meh. That’s basically how I felt about this one. I loved the D&D aspect, and the art was cute, but I didn’t really connect with any of the characters and the plot was just kind of…… there. Definitely didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either.

<u>”Catch, Pull, Drive” by Schuyler Bailar</u>: ★★★★★ 🌈
• <blockquote><img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/VneewiuxT3cS4/giphy.gif" width="400" height="200" alt="description"/></blockquote> This is a story about a trans boy, and his first swim team practice after coming out. And holy cow, it was a total tearjerker. We can all relate to Tommy’s struggles, and for goodness sake, I just want him to be happy. If Schuyler Bailar ever retires as a swimmer, he could totally become an author and I would read every single one of his books. This was a beautiful, sad, but ultimately hopeful story that every reader will enjoy.

(Note: readers should be forewarned that there is some triggering content in this story. The c-slur is used twice, the t-slur is used once, and the f-slur is used liberally. Tommy is also deadnamed once in the story.)

<u>”Super Human” by Nicola Yoon</u>: ★★★★
• What a unique and awesome story! This is about a superhero that decides that he is done with humanity and that he’s going to destroy the world, and the girl that is sent to stop him. It deals with a lot of tough topics like police brutality and racism, and I LOVED it! I ended up giving it four stars instead of five because, plot-wise, I think this would work better as a full-length novel than a short story (it was a little rushed), but besides that, it was perfect!

So there you have it! Besides the rare exception, this anthology is full of important, beautifully written stories that include topics and themes that are so relevant to today’s world. Both teens of color and lgbt teens will thrive at the opportunity to find main characters like themselves, and I <b>really</b> hope that this becomes a series, so that I can look forward to diverse short stories being published on the regular.

This book really opened my eyes to the fact that I don't really read very diverse books and I think it's mainly because there isn't a ton of diverse options out there. Of course the selection is beginning to become more diverse, but there is definitely a lack of diversity in YA.

My favorite stories from this anthology were: Meet Cute by Malinda Lo, Tags by Walter Dean Meyers, Why I Learned to Cook by Sara Farizan and Catch Pull Drive by Schuyler Bailar. These stories were fantastic and leave you wanting full novels.

Eraser Tattoo: 4 ⭐️ Ugh, be still my heart. I felt so bad for Shay and Dante. I would have been a sobbing mess. I wish this one could have been a full book.

Meet Cute: 3.5 ⭐️ Pretty cute. I like the blurring of the gender lines. You don’t know who is male and female right away. 👏🏼

Don’t Pass Me By: 3.5 ⭐️I thought it was just okay until the end. When he confronted his teacher about the flesh tone skin colors, it added a whole extra star.

Be Cool For Once: 2 ⭐️ Although I liked the ending, I just didn’t like this short story much. It seemed extremely unrealistic in more ways than I could count. I know when I keep looking down at how many minutes I have left in a chapter, I’m not enjoying a story. Unfortunately the ending didn’t redeem the story for me.

Tags: 5⭐️ This was super unique! A short play with a couple twists all in under 10 minutes.

Why I Learned to Cook: 5⭐️ loved this story! It was so sweet and I wanted more.

A Stranger at the Bochinche: 1⭐️I couldn’t get into this and it reminded a little too much of a Rick Riordan book.

A Boy’s Duty: 4.5⭐️ This had me entranced, but I just wanted a little more from the ending.

One Voice (A Something in Between Story): 5+⭐️Oh. My. God. If I could rate this higher, I would. This short story evoked so many feelings in me that I’ve never been able to put to words. It brought up the most important topic that just because something doesn’t pertain to us, it doesn’t negate the feeling. We should all unite and stand up for the -isms that take place and show solidarity for humanity.

Paladin/Samurai: 2⭐️meh...although I loved the idea of a graphic short story, it fell super flat for me.

Catch, Pull, Drive: 5+⭐️This was absolutely fabulous. I never really knew what it felt like to never feel like you fit with anyone because you are judged by both sides. So, so good.

Super Human: 5++⭐️ *sigh* that is one story that I so wish we had a book of now because there is so much backstory to be unpacked and that cliffhanger. Why is Nicola Yoon so good??

Overall: I really enjoy the fact that it’s causing me to learn about different cultures that I normally would never have known information on. I found myself googling terms left and right. Furthermore, and most importantly this anthology shows many different perspectives accurately. I do not identify with a lot of the backgrounds/cultures/genders/sexual orientations in this book, but the one that I did, hit home. So well done.

I love most of these writers but this is not a collection of their best work. It seems hastily put together.

Awesome collection of short stories from some of the best YA authors today. It features diverse authors as well as diverse characters to help the #weneeddiversebooks initiative. I loved the vast variety of stories and subjects covered, from a "meet cute" at a fan convention to a play about graffiti artists. Nicola Yoon, Walter Dean Myers, Melisa de la Cruz and more have stories featured, and all are really entertaining.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fresh Ink is a book about diversity. Each short story (there 12 are altogether) features a person of minority, someone of a different race, religion, or sexual orientation. I love the idea behind this book. I'm all for broadening horizons and expanding my view of the world and the people in it. As a part of the LGBT community, I understand how important it is to be heard and understood. Each of these stories is a look into someone else's world, each written by a popular Young Adult Author. Going on this information alone, you'd assume this book would be highly rated. You would be wrong. I was very disappointed in this book. I only semi enjoyed 2 of the stories, "Why I Learned to Cook" by Sara Farizan and “Catch, Pull, Drive” by Schuyler Bailar. The rest, I thought, were dull and lacked anything to keep me interested. I understand that with short stories, you have a very limited view into the story, but the view you do have should grab hold of you and leave you wishing the story were longer. These weren't that. So while this book has the diversity thing going for it, it doesn't have much else, even from names I know and enjoy.

Loved all the diversity and characters in this anthology. Favorites were del la Cruz and Yoon.

This anthology was everything I didn't know I needed. The assortment of gut wrenching, adorable and sentimental stories here was absolutely perfect. I'm not typically a short story fan, but everything about this worked so well for me.

Eraser Tattoo by Jason Reynolds: I have read all of Jason's books and I don't think he's ever written a strict love story before and now i NEED a full length love story from him!... 5 stars

Meet Cute by Malinda Lo: So cute and nerdy! The middle kinda dragged for me, but all in all i loved it!... 4 stars

Don't Pass Me By by Eric Gansworth: This is a story about an American Indian boy letting himself feel empowered with his heritage, which is awesome, but also low-key boring... 3 stars.

Be Cool For Once by Aminah Mae Safi: This had the makings of what could be a really cute novel, but a very confusing short story. It was so rushed, I didn't really understand what was going on! 2.5 stars

Tags by Walter Dean Meyers: This is a one act play that I'm betting would be incredible to see performed! It's very sad though... 3.5 stars.

Why I Learned To Cook by Sara Farizan: Possibly my favorite? But i've loved both of Sara's books so I'm not surprised. An incredibly adorable f/f story. It was cute and sweet and i adored Yasi's grandma!... 5 stars.

A Stranger at the Bochinche by Daniel Jose Older: I was really bored and confused and couldn't finish this one... dnf

A Boy's Duty by Sharon G. Flake: Sweet and sad, but I liked it... 4 stars...

One Voice by Melissa de la Cruz: I skipped this one because it's a Something In Between story and i hated that book.

Paladin/Samurai by Gene Luen Yang, illustrated by Thien Phan: It seemed pretty pointless but the art was cute... 2 stars.

Catch, Pulle, Drive by Schyuler Bailar: This is about a trans boy who publicly comes out and it's his first practice with the boys. Ramon is an effing douche bag who I wanted to climb into the story and punch... also the Coach. Other than that it was sweet and uplifting and I'd love a whole novel from him... 5 stars.

Super Human by Nicola Yoon: Surprisingly moving story about race in America... 5 stars.

I absolutely loved this book. I loved that I saw myself in different stories and every single one of them was interesting and kept me reading. I'm looking forward to this book's release and am itching to get a physical copy. All of these authors are amazing and to come together in this anthology was just a wondrous gift.

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."
​
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.