I have loved YA for a long time. Anthologies are my favorite because they combine the best authors in one place. When I saw this on Netgalley I knew that I had to request it. Diversity is needed now more than ever. I loved how diverse the selections of authors were. Lamar Giles is a great author. I will read everything by Nicola Yoon, pun intended. You can tell that the authors poured their hearts into this book. I can't wait to dive into the rest after I finish this semester at college. Spring break can't come soon enough lol.

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

This was an anthology put together by Lamar Giles under the Random House Children's Crown Books for Young Readers imprint, but the themes here seemed rather adult, so I'm wondering if young adult might have been better than 'young children's' - to me that's misleading. Worse than this there are os many books out there titled "Fresh Ink" that it's a bit sad the publisher could not have come up with something better and less over-used.

Overall I was not impressed by this. Out of thirteen stories only two were really enjoyable and one was a maybe, but the rest were not interesting, and overall the stories belied the anthology title - there really wasn't anything fresh here at all. Maybe the stories were newly-written, but that doesn't mean they're fresh, and most of the themes featured here have already been done to death. They need really fresh ink to keep these themes alive, and sadly, this wasn't it.

The range of authors was in one way commendably diverse, but the problem with that is that all of these authors are USA authors! Only Melissa de la Cruz and Nicola Yoon were not born here and they apparently got here as soon as they could, and every story was set in the USA, like no other country in the world matters. I found this to be a big indictment of the 'fresh' claim: it really was very much same old, same old, and this made me sad. There's little point in talking about diversity and inclusiveness, and "#ownvoices" when it's all USA all the time, like there is nowhere else in the world worth writing about or setting stories in. It makes the whole enterprise hypocritical.

The blurb on Goodreads and on Net Galley says, "Careful--you are holding fresh ink. And not hot-off-the-press, still-drying-in-your-hands ink. Instead, you are holding twelve stories with endings that are still being written--whose next chapters are up to you." but this is disingenuous bullshit! All of these stories are copyrighted to their authors. You start writing 'chapter two' of any one of these and you will be sued.

The story titles are listed below with my comments on each. I'd heard of only three of these authors before through reading their work, so this felt like a good opportunity to 'meet' the others and see what they can do.
Eraser Tattoo by Jason Reynolds
This story was a poor lead-in for me because it led me nowhere. I'd never heard of this author, so I was interested to see if I liked the story, but it turned out to be a maudlin meandering tale of a young couple who were going to be separated by distance. It felt like fluff to me - like nothing. People split up all the time, so if you're going to relate a story about it, you'd better bring something new to the table: a twist, a new angle, something. There was nothing new revealed here, nothing fresh. I guess there could have been, but a story like this needs to be handled better than it was. I found it boring. The title sounds almost sci-fi, but the eraser tattoo is quite literally a tattoo made from rubbing an eraser on your skin - and painfully so. I have no idea why anyone would want to do that, so from the off these two people struck me as morons and they never changed that opinion. I honestly wondered if this one had been included only because the title of the anthology suggests tattooing, and this is the only story which features it? If I'd known that the author had won the 2016 Kirkus Prize, for As Brave As You I might have skipped this story altogether. Kirkus never met a story they didn't like, which means their reviews are utterly worthless except in their utility in warning me off books I will not like.
Meet Cute by Malinda Lo
After reading Ash and Huntress Malinda Lo was way up there in my esteem, and I was looking forward to reading this more than any other story here. Once again she came through for me with a sweet, gentle easy story about two girls who happily meet by accident at a comic con. While I do recognize the story potential inherent in such scenarios, I'm not a fan of comic cons or of that culture, so for her to bring a story out of that which impressed and pleased me was even more commendable. When I say the story was easy, I mean it was easy on the mind. The story itself was layered and complex with delicious subtle undercurrents. I always felt the ending had to be a happy one, but the author kept it up in the air naturally enough that it made me feel a small sense of panic that it would not. The two girls will not forget that particular comic con in a hurry.
Don’t Pass Me By by Eric Gansworth
This was a story about the American Indian experience which has been an appalling one, and which is still going on far too long, but I didn't think that this was a very good way to relate it. It did make a point about how schools are designed for white folk, as evidenced in the predominantly white (or worse, pink!) appearance of characters in biology books, but aside from that it could have been a story about anyone undergoing acceptance problems, yet it wasn't! By that I mean I think this story would have popped a lot more if there had been two people enduring the same passive bullying and rejection, one of which was American Indian, the other of which was differentiated in some other way. As it was, it was just so-so and I'm not convinced it will achieve its aim which makes me sad to report.
Be Cool for Once by Aminah Mae Safi
This story was ostensibly about a Muslim experience, as exhibited in this case by Shirin, but the story really could have been about anyone in her position Muslim or not, so it failed to make a good impression on me as such a story, and the writing never rose above your standard YA girl main character story. It seemed to have no focus, being much more of a generic story about two girls going to a concert and one of them having a crush on a boy than ever it did about what it felt like to be Muslim, and maybe isolated and different. You could have quite literally put any person in the place of Shirin, anyone who had some sort of issue, male or female, and pretty much told the same story word for word. It's been done! There's nothing fresh here. Because of this, it actually rendered Shirin more 'the same' than ever it did different, and I don't mean that in any positive way. I mean it was not a fresh story, and it didn't cut to the real chase, but instead meandered into some sort of ersatz chase that stood in for and thereby negated the real story that could have been told here.
Tags by Walter Dean Myers
I did not like this one at all. It was written lazily, like it was a movie script, but with speech only, and no scene setting or 'stage' directions at all, and was so boring that I quit reading after a couple of pages. Big fail.
Why I Learned to Cook By Sara Farizan
This was about a girl, Yasaman, who is Persian and a lesbian. She's come out to her family, but not to her grandmother because she doesn't know how grandma will take this news, but she eventually gets around to inviting Hannah, her girlfriend, over to grandmas and it worked out of course. This story I did not find objectionable, but that was the best I could say about it because it really was nothing I haven't read before. If you're going to do a coming out story you need a fresher edge than this one offered. If the story had been set in Iran, that would have made a difference, but the author played it safe. You're not going to hit any balls out of the stadium if you're afraid to really swing that bat.
A Stranger at the Bochinche by Daniel José Older
This oen was really short and so rambling that I honestly glazed-over and could not take in the story assuming there was one to be had. I'm not sure what it was trying to say, but whatever it was, if anything, was lost on me.
A Boy’s Duty by Sharon G Flake
I've read three novels by Sharon Flake and liked two of them, so she was batting a .666 coming into this, but now she's down to .500 because I did not like this one. It was about racism in World War Two, and an idiot kid who seemed to delight in pissing people off. There was nothing here to interest or impress me.
One Voice: A Something in Between Story by Melissa de la Cruz
While I really liked the TV version of this author's Witches of East End, I did not like her original novel, nor did I like one other novel of hers (Frozen) that I read, so I was not expecting to like this, and my expectations were met. This story was like a dear diary with somewhat disconnected episodes in this girl's life. The message was about racism, but if the message is the medium, then the medium was tedium not freedom. It was so boring that the message was blurred beyond recognition which is truly sad.
Paladin Samurai by Gene Luen Yang, Illustrations by Thien Pham
This was a graphic novel which was poorly illustrated (and even more poorly exhibited in Amazon's crappy Kindle app). It wasn't well told at all, which is why I gave up on it after reading two or three pages. I really didn't care about these characters or what happened to them.
Catch, Pull, Drive by Schuyler Bailar
Schuyler (pronounced like Skyler) Bailar is a ftm transgender athlete, and this story felt like a memoir, because he's a swimmer who has been through this change, but it also felt dishonest because it did not reflect what he went through. While a change like this always brings difficulties, he seems to have had the support of coaches and teammates. This story is just the opposite and that doesn't mean there aren't people who suffer through this process; I'm sure there are because we are a long way from where we need to be, but for someone who has come through this change relatively unscathed, this story felt disingenuous. If he'd told his own story, even fictionalized as this was, it would have resonated far more with me, because not every story is negative and because we need an honest balance.
Super Human by Nicola Yoon
This one actually did feel like fresh ink because it took an old problem and one which is still with us, and it needed a new twist. This did the trick, which is why I liked it. The story is of Syrita, who has been chosen to talk with a super hero known only as X, who has been stellar in the past but who is now not willing to be heroic any more. It wasn't clear from the story whether he was planning on simply retiring and letting the world go to hell by simply withholding his help, or if he would actually go over to the dark side and start wreaking revenge on a society he feels (with some reason) is chronically unjust. In the end, the real super hero here is Syrita, who proves to have a lot more faith in him than he does in society!
So I was not impressed overall, and I can't recommend this collection. There are one or two gems in it and if it's worth it to you to buy this load of crude ore in the hope of finding a gem or two in it, then you may like it, but I definitely wouldn't like to buy this, only to find that most of the stories don't really offer what the title suggests they will.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, I read an advanced digital copy of the anthology, Fresh Ink. In the foreword, the editor Lamar Giles, recounts his own frustrations with reading while growing up, "Finding ourselves in the stories we loved was hard, frustrating work. But when we discovered that rare story that reflected us, that hidden gem, we latched on and feel in LOVE love with reading all over again." Every reader deserves to feel seen and understood in the pages of a book. This anthology is a collection of short stories written by authors with different backgrounds and experiences and is full of characters with backgrounds and experiences that don't fill the pages of books often enough. Readers will surely find someone in these stories that looks like them or is living a life with experiences that are familiar to them. There is power in a book that allows a reader's life and experiences to be affirmed in one story and to affirm the life and experiences of others on the very next page.

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.