In "I am not a papaya" by Veera Hiranandani, the protagonist Rani admitted to hating dances, but simply by going there, she would be able to:
"make people think harder, wonder about her, but also wonder about themselves, things she wished people did more of in general."
This is exactly what this anthology made me do. I wondered about and tried hard to understand why these characters feel and act the way they do as someone who isn't multiracial, and also began to wonder and reflect on my own experiences as an immigrant from East Asia living in North America.

This is a collection of stories centred around the experiences of teens and young adults dealing with their multiracial/multicultural identities, belonging and self-acceptance. Some stories explore more emotional topics like divorce of parents, abandonment and grief. Feels aside, most stories tend to be lighthearted and feel-good reads. Most stories take place in a contemporary and US-American middle or high school setting, but there are a few historical ones and a few that take place outside of the US.

As with any anthology, the stories can be a bit hit or miss for individual readers. The stories that did hit, hit me very hard. Some of my favourites are:

"Invisible" by Emiko Jean, which was told in a combination of second and first person POV, with the reader playing the role of the ignorant doctor, forcing the reader to examine their own biases and prejudices.

"Enough to be a real thing" by I. W. Gregorio, which is engaging, fun, and made me laugh out loud plenty of times with its humour.

"Searching" by Jasmine Warga, an emotional read in which the protagonist travels to the country her deceased father was from, in an attempt to understand his roots better, as well as to search... for what exactly, she can't say for sure, and while I have not had experiences like hers at all, I understood her sense of loss and desire for searching, even if aimlessly.

There are many stories in addition to the ones above that I highly enjoyed reading and I will be looking up other books by their authors.

I will recommend this anthology to any multiracial/multicultural young readers hoping to feel validated/represented, and anyone in general looking to discover authors who are multiracial/multicultural.

Many thanks to netgalley for providing the e-ARC!

Boundless is a collection of short stories about young people who are multicultural or multiracial. While I enjoyed some stories more than others, all the stories were compelling and keep me interested. I found a few that I would like to incorporate into my curriculum next year in my classroom.

•The Chair Far Away From the Table by Akemi Dawn Bowman- 4.5
•Hispanic Jewish Bingo by Goldy Moldavsky- 4
•The Perils of Beige by Nasugraq Rainey Hopson- 4
•Invisible by Emiko Jean- 4
•Mariachis vs. Bluegrass by Loriel Ryan- 3.5
•I Am Not a Papaya by Veera Hiranandani- 3.5
•Between Visibilities by Adi Alsaid- 3
•Enough to Be a Real Thing by I. W. Gregorio- 3
•Thicker Than Water by Ismee Williams- 3
•My Kinda Sorta Badass Move by Karen Yin- 4
•I Like to Be in America by Anika Fajardo- 3
•Michelle and Yvette in Kaiserslautern by Melina Mangal- 3
•Irish Soda Bread by Eric Smith- 4
•The Mortification by Shannon Gibney- 3.5
•Between Layers by Tara Sim- 4
•Different by Torrey Maldonado- 3
•Confessions by Erin Enthrada Kelly- 4
•A Halfie's Guide to Mexican Retaurants by Rebecca Balcarcel- 4
•Effing Nico by Randy Ribay- 4
•Searching by Jasmine Warga- 4

I don’t often read anthologies, however I’m glad I made that exception for Boundless.

Even though they were short stories, each one felt so developed and carefully created.

I would love to read more from each individual author!

Thank you NetGalley and InkYard Press for this e-arc!

I didn't always love short stories, mostly because I kept wanting more, and they kept ending. But I always want to spend more time with characters I love, and that knows no form. Novel, novella, or short story, great characters always make me want to spend more time in their world.

My love for short stories has really grown in the last few years, and it's in part due to anthologies like this. Anthologies connected by theme, or interconnected by setting with character crossovers like Ancestor Approved.

Boundless, a new anthology with twenty incredible contributing authors, is edited by Ismée Williams and Rebecca Balcárcel. This young adult anthology highlights multicultural life and tackles themes of identity and belonging.

Each story is incredible, with thorough character development. Each story is engrossing, so much so that I couldn't just continue straight through but I had to take a moment between stories to just appreciate how beautiful each one was. This is the kind of anthology you can really savor, enjoying it story by story, without feeling rushed.

Themes of identity and belonging are explored at a micro and macro level, allowing for diversity and individual experiences to flourish. These stories are so relatable. There is something universal about searching for where you belong, yet that same something is multiplied by multi-cultural and multi-racial experiences. As a bicultural person myself, I found something in each and every story to relate to, and felt seen in ways I didn't expect. But even without being bicultural, I think I would have found just as many relatable moments.

This anthology includes stories from:
* Adi Alsaid
* Rebecca Balcárcel
* Akemi Dawn Bowman
* Anika Fajardo
* Shannon Gibney
* I.W. Gregorio
* Veera Hiranandani
* Nasugraq Rainey Hopson
* Emiko Jean
* Erin Entrada Kelly
* Torrey Maldonado
* Mélina Mangal
* Goldy Moldavsky
* Randy Ribay
* Loriel Ryon
* Tara Sim
* Eric Smith
* Jasmine Warga
* Ismée Williams
* Karen Yin

These stories are just wonderful. Individually, each story is engrossing, well written, and thought provoking. Together, they create a beautiful tapestry of connection, acceptance, and love.

Boundless will be available June 13, 2023.
Thank you to Inkyard Press, NetGalley, the contributors, and editors for an advanced e-copy such that I could share my honest opinions.

These twenty stories were beautifully told. I loved the glimpses into the character’s social and familial lives. Even through they were short stories, I feel all the characters were well rounded and fully flushed out. I would recommend this book to others!

It isn't often for me when I read anthologies to be hooked by every story in the collection, but I sincerely loved each contribution here. Beautifully edited, cohesive, and unique.

Twenty MG/YA stories ranging from birthdays to love to grief to hope to confusion to searching for something you are not sure you can really find to just trying to fit in. These stories celebrate multicultural and multiracial backgrounds, leaving the reader wanting more. Thank you @rebeccabalcarcel & @ismeewilliams for these incredible stories and showcasing voices that will resonate with readers young and old

If I’m remembering correctly, I quite liked the first 2 stories, really liked the last 2, and the rest was a mixed bag. This always seems to be my experience with short story anthologies with many different authors and yet I keep coming back!! I think it’s especially tricky with a topic such as this - it narrows the scope of who they can get to write the stories and the authors just might not be my cup of tea. (I especially didn’t love that there were a few set in middle school, and 2 different stories involving people getting their periods?) The idea of this book really appealed to me, as someone who is mixed raced/multicultural, but even so, I felt like it got really repetitive - so many of the stories were basically “I am 2 things and don’t feel like I fit anywhere.” The stories that eased a bit outside of that were ones I liked best.

Boundless is a richly diverse collection of YA short stories centered around the multiracial and mixed race characters. Their voices, interactions and relationships with others depict some big questions surrounding identity, race, and societal expectations. I've read previous work by some of the authors in this collection, but most are new to me and I'll eagerly look for their other books.

Some stories in Boundless seem a bit simplistic in the first reading, but I can imagine these can serve as a starting point for productive conversations about how people of different background might navigate different situations and how racial/ethnic identities might play a role. I also like that so many different backgrounds and identities are represented so, as a reader, I was introduced to a new perspective every few pages. Finally, I appreciate short story collections that center on a theme, where you can get a sense of the many different layers that might be part of the experience of a multiracial character, but where the author-contributors each have their own distinct styles.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the e-arc!

This stories are about teenager at the intersection of two cultural communities. I loved the idea to read about people like me but I am a older so I didn't really found me in this stories. However I think they could be interesting for someone younger and they are a quick and pleasant read.

I absolutely loved this collection of stories. Five stars! The writers did a beautiful job with telling their stories of race and culture and identity. I thought there was a good flow from one to the next. Some I found to have a hint of humor while others are quite serious. I’m hoping my teenage son will also read this.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

In this anthology of 20 short stories the experiences of multiracial and/or multicultural characters are amplified and celebrated. In the foreword from the editors, Williams and Balcarcel write that they hope to recognize the many ways living in two or more cultures helps us to develop empathy and a broader world view and that is exactly what this collection does- it builds a bridge that connects all to multicultural experiences while humanizing the experience of those who have struggled to feel completely at home within their own communities. I am so grateful that this collection exists. Though these stories are fictional they are representative of the racial identity development and coming of age experiences many young people encounter when figuring out who they are in the world.

Thank you to the editors and the publisher for the e-arc copy!