Fresh Ink: An Anthology by Lamar Giles, Nicola Yoon, Malinda Lo, Melissa de la Cruz, Sara Farizan, Eric Gansworth, Walter Dean Myers, Daniel José Older, Thien Pham, Jason Reynolds, Gene Luen Yang, Sharon G. Flake, Schuyler Bailar, Aminah Mae Safi Published by Crown Books for Young Readers on August 14th 2018
Genres: Anthology, Fiction, Young Adult
Goodreads
In partnership with We Need Diverse Books, thirteen of the most recognizable, diverse authors come together in this remarkable YA anthology featuring ten short stories, a graphic short story, and a one-act play from Walter Dean Myers never before in-print.
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.
Because these stories are meant to be read. And shared.
Thirteen of the most accomplished YA authors deliver a label-defying anthology that includes ten short stories, a graphic novel, and a one-act play. This collection will inspire you to break conventions, bend the rules, and color outside the lines. All you need is fresh ink.
I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher. This does not influence my thoughts on the book or this review.
I am a huge fan of anthologies and a lot of the authors in this collection so I decided to give Fresh Ink a chance. I ended up really liking it!
Fresh Ink is more about the authors rather than a cohesive theme linking the stories together but I think it still worked really well all together. After reading the synopsis, I guess I can say that the theme is stories with endings that provoke thought and conversation. While not a lot of the ending needed further explanation, I do think there were a few cliff-hanger endings that are meant to give the readers something to mull over. While that’s not my favourite convention, I do think it worked really well.
I really enjoyed Fresh Ink and I really liked that the collection was short, which encouraged me to read the collection all together rather than split it up into segments. I thought all of the stories were great in different ways, with my favourite being Sara Farizan’s story. I thought that story had the most emotional impact on me and was definitely more character-driven.
Overall, Fresh Ink is a varied short story collection that I think would work for reluctant readers or someone who’s looking for a short but impactful read. There’s a variety of genres in the collection which makes it perfect for everyone.
