So many authors I really like and admire are included in this anthology, and as most of you will know, I am all for honest and empowering representation of disabilities in YA fiction. So, I was excited to start reading this anthology of short fiction. Unfortunately, it didn't really do it for me.
There are some strong stories in here. I particularly liked Kody Keplinger's one about tandem biking and William Alexander's story about a boy who conjured up a monster with his chronic pain.
Unfortunately too many of the rest fell flat for me. And there was such a mix of genres, from high science-fi to magic realism, to fantasy to historical that the stories never really fit together in any way that made sense. And in several cases I couldn't even figure out what the disability was, most especially in a story about a girl making a pilgrimage to a Muslim sacred place and burdened by a mysterious 'It'.
So while I totally love the premise of this book, the story selection is not as great as I would have hoped it to be. Which is a real shame because teens living with a disability, mental or physical, deserve to see themselves in books doing and being more than their disabilities.
But don't just listen to me. Here's the blurb:
A YA Anthology of short stories featuring disabled teens, written by #OwnVoices disabled authors. The stories reflect a range of genres and disabilities; contributors include bestselling authors Kody Keplinger and Francisco X. Stork, as well as newcomers Fox Benwell, Keah Brown, and more.
That's too bad. Unfortunately, it's not the first time I've heard about a disability related anthology not living up to expectations.
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