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Fresh Ink
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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 ...more
Careful--you are holding fresh ink. And not hot-off-the-press, still-drying-in-your-hands ink. Instead, you are holding ...more
Hardcover, 198 pages
Published
August 14th 2018
by Crown Books for Young Readers
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La'Tonya Rease Miles
and they are all about teens, most of whom are not white
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ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
First off, I’m a cis, extremely white passing reviewer. I have been able to see myself in literature and media my entire life, regardless of how much my Filipino culture means to me and how proud of it I am. So even though all of these stories are ownvoices, this review you are about to read is not. After publication, I will feature some actual ownvoices reviews here because this anthology was created to support and boo ...more

Reading this feels like I got to choose some of my favorite authors and ask each to tell me a story. I loved that the collection included a play as well as a graphic-short. While every story stood on its own, with unique subjects and topics, the thread of authentic brilliance brings them together beautifully.
I loved it so much, I've donated Fresh Ink to two of my favorite HS classrooms. ...more
I loved it so much, I've donated Fresh Ink to two of my favorite HS classrooms. ...more

More often than not, if I ran across a character who shared my race and gender in a book he was a gross stereotype, comic relief, token sidekick, or, depending on the genre (I’m looking at you, science fiction, fantasy, and horror), there to die so the real hero could fight another day.
I love anthologies, and I love getting the opportunity to promote authors of color and diverse books, so as soon as I learned that the co-founder of the We Need Diverse Books movement was editing this antholog ...more

!! NOW AVAILABLE !!
Sometimes I wonder where I've been,
Who I am,
Do I fit in.
I may not win,
But I can't be thrown,
Out here on my own,
Out here on my own
-- Out Here on My Own, Irene Cara, Songwriters: Lesley Gore / Michael Gore
Lamar Giles, editor of this YA anthology, and in partnership with We Need Diverse Books wanted, wants more stories about diversity, more stories where more people can see themselves, especially for our youth. In his youth, he says in the Foreword, that “book after book, adv ...more
Sometimes I wonder where I've been,
Who I am,
Do I fit in.
I may not win,
But I can't be thrown,
Out here on my own,
Out here on my own
-- Out Here on My Own, Irene Cara, Songwriters: Lesley Gore / Michael Gore
Lamar Giles, editor of this YA anthology, and in partnership with We Need Diverse Books wanted, wants more stories about diversity, more stories where more people can see themselves, especially for our youth. In his youth, he says in the Foreword, that “book after book, adv ...more

I really wish there was more of a variety of genres, but this was a great collection of short stories featuring diverse characters written by some of the biggest YA contemporary authors.
I think I expected more than just contemporary fiction stories because in the foreword, the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres are all specifically called out for their killing off of minority characters. However, the majority of these stories are contemporary with romance being a key plot point. Out of t ...more
I think I expected more than just contemporary fiction stories because in the foreword, the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres are all specifically called out for their killing off of minority characters. However, the majority of these stories are contemporary with romance being a key plot point. Out of t ...more

Sep 18, 2018
CW (The Quiet Pond) ✨
rated it
liked it
Shelves:
audiobook,
realistic-fiction,
2018,
feminism,
romance,
young-adult,
science-fiction,
anthology,
diverse-shelf,
has-poc-rep
My full review can read at my blog, The Quiet Pond.
A wonderful and diverse anthology of ownvoices stories. I enjoyed this so so much, and particularly so as an audiobook, and I highly recommend this anthology to everyone.
- Explores a diversity of topic through a variety of genres: contemporary slice-of-life sort of stuff, romance, science-fiction, and historical fiction.
- Also explores a variety of themes that are guaranteed to pull you in. To name a few, what 'humanity' is, the power of solida ...more
A wonderful and diverse anthology of ownvoices stories. I enjoyed this so so much, and particularly so as an audiobook, and I highly recommend this anthology to everyone.
- Explores a diversity of topic through a variety of genres: contemporary slice-of-life sort of stuff, romance, science-fiction, and historical fiction.
- Also explores a variety of themes that are guaranteed to pull you in. To name a few, what 'humanity' is, the power of solida ...more

In the introduction of Fresh Ink, it's stated many reasons that we need short stories such as these. Even though I did not relate directly to many of the stories, I completely agree that we need more diversity in all writing, especially the young adult genre. All the tales had a very genuine feel to the characters and discussed extremely relevant issues facing our society today. I recommend this book to adults and young adults alike!
Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for providing an advanced c ...more
Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for providing an advanced c ...more

Average Rating: 3.58 Stars
Stories I Was Most Excited For: Eraser Tattoo by Jason Reynolds; Super Human By Nicola Yoon
Favorite stories: Be Cool For Once by Aminah Mae Safi; Why I Learned to Cook by Sara Farizan; Super Human by Nicola Yoon
Least Favorite Stories: A Stranger at the Bochinche by Daniel José Older; Paladin/Samuari by Gene Luen Yang
Fresh Ink is a vibrant collection of diverse stories that share personal truths, hopes, fears, and dreams. Told in short stories, a one act play, and a gra ...more
Stories I Was Most Excited For: Eraser Tattoo by Jason Reynolds; Super Human By Nicola Yoon
Favorite stories: Be Cool For Once by Aminah Mae Safi; Why I Learned to Cook by Sara Farizan; Super Human by Nicola Yoon
Least Favorite Stories: A Stranger at the Bochinche by Daniel José Older; Paladin/Samuari by Gene Luen Yang
Fresh Ink is a vibrant collection of diverse stories that share personal truths, hopes, fears, and dreams. Told in short stories, a one act play, and a gra ...more

Growing up, finding stories I could relate to require Sherlock Holmes-level detection. While I enjoyed your typical stories aimed at middle-schoolers and teenagers, they had something in common that bothered me a bit: They excluded me.
Very few books I read including black girls. When they did, however, they were stereotypical and unbelievable. Yes, the last sentence is still a problem today in 2019 (Mind you, I read these books in the eighties).
Thankfully, this generation desires a turnaround. W ...more
Very few books I read including black girls. When they did, however, they were stereotypical and unbelievable. Yes, the last sentence is still a problem today in 2019 (Mind you, I read these books in the eighties).
Thankfully, this generation desires a turnaround. W ...more

*i received a DRC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher.*
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 him ...more
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 him ...more

I'm not really one for anthologies but I thought I'd pick this one up. Most of the stories were pretty good. I really enjoyed a lot of them ecspcially Melissa De La Cruz's short story. 3.5 stars
...more

This was a nice anthology that features diverse characters. We had a few f/f stories and a transgender story that was written by a transgender author. As a reader of color inclusion is very important to me. I wish I had a book like this when I was teenager but as an adult I still appreciated this story and hope we got more books like this going forward. Majority of these authors are new to me and I wasn't disappointed. Some stories I liked more than others but overall I was impressed with this a
...more

Jul 01, 2018
Kristi Housman Confessions of a YA Reader
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
advanced-reader,
netgalley-books
This was a great book full of short stories, a comic, and play. I'm not going to talk much about each story since they are not very long. But I will say a little and rate each one below.
Eraser Tattoo by Jason Reynolds This was a sweet story about a girl who was moving away. She was giving her boyfriend an eraser tattoo to remember her by. 4 1/2 stars
Meet Cute by Melinda Lo Two girls meet at a con. The power goes out and they get lost, but form a connection right away. 4 1/2 stars
Don' ...more
Eraser Tattoo by Jason Reynolds This was a sweet story about a girl who was moving away. She was giving her boyfriend an eraser tattoo to remember her by. 4 1/2 stars
Meet Cute by Melinda Lo Two girls meet at a con. The power goes out and they get lost, but form a connection right away. 4 1/2 stars
Don' ...more

Jan 04, 2018
Biz
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
rep-poc,
read-as-an-arc,
rep-lgbt,
recs-strong-women,
recs-diverse,
four-star,
diversity,
2018-faves
Average Rating: 3.96.
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 ...more
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 ...more

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Fresh Ink, an anthology edited by Lamar Giles, features short stories, a one-act play, and a short graphic novel from thirteen top YA contemporary authors including Jason Reynolds, Gene Luen Yang, Nicola Yoon, Walter Dean Myers, Daniel José Older, Melissa de la Cruz, and Malinda Lo. Each contribution to this diverse collection will inspire you think outside of the box and dare to defy conventions.
Short story anthologies regardless ...more
Fresh Ink, an anthology edited by Lamar Giles, features short stories, a one-act play, and a short graphic novel from thirteen top YA contemporary authors including Jason Reynolds, Gene Luen Yang, Nicola Yoon, Walter Dean Myers, Daniel José Older, Melissa de la Cruz, and Malinda Lo. Each contribution to this diverse collection will inspire you think outside of the box and dare to defy conventions.
Short story anthologies regardless ...more

Feb 01, 2020
Rod Brown
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2020-real-books
This came on my radar because I heard some of the stories were in comic form, but when it turned out to have just one 8-page strip I almost decided to pass on it. But I'm so happy I didn't.
This #ownvoices anthology has diverse authors telling stories about diverse characters. Unlike a lot of anthologies, the quality of the stories is remarkably high and consistent. For comic book geeks like me, in addition to the Gene Luen Yang strip, there is a cosplay romance at a convention, a post-apocalypse ...more
This #ownvoices anthology has diverse authors telling stories about diverse characters. Unlike a lot of anthologies, the quality of the stories is remarkably high and consistent. For comic book geeks like me, in addition to the Gene Luen Yang strip, there is a cosplay romance at a convention, a post-apocalypse ...more

I received this as an e-galley off of netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
First off, I can't even give the stories individual ratings because they each earned between 4 to 5 stars from me so collectively this book was just five stars.
I loved each of these stories for different reasons, a couple of them were by authors I already liked so I didn't expect anything less. When I read the intro by Lamar I never felt so connected with a fellow reader. I am a black girl and when I was reading bo ...more
First off, I can't even give the stories individual ratings because they each earned between 4 to 5 stars from me so collectively this book was just five stars.
I loved each of these stories for different reasons, a couple of them were by authors I already liked so I didn't expect anything less. When I read the intro by Lamar I never felt so connected with a fellow reader. I am a black girl and when I was reading bo ...more

It’s late, so I’ll need to check my math later, but I think my average rating per story is 3.8. Let’s round up for fun.
Eraser Tattoo by Jason Reynolds
Made me cringe, self harm trigger, anti-climactic but cute rom 3 stars
Meet Cute by Melinda Lo
5 stars diverse and cleaver and adorable and dripping in fan culture cuteness
Don’t Pass Me By by Eric Gansworth
Nice rep, I think? kinda boring, meandering, slow moving plot. Good message about race, but not sure the point of anything else happening here ...more
Eraser Tattoo by Jason Reynolds
Made me cringe, self harm trigger, anti-climactic but cute rom 3 stars
Meet Cute by Melinda Lo
5 stars diverse and cleaver and adorable and dripping in fan culture cuteness
Don’t Pass Me By by Eric Gansworth
Nice rep, I think? kinda boring, meandering, slow moving plot. Good message about race, but not sure the point of anything else happening here ...more

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
...more

AH-mazing. You can never go wrong with short stories in a collection focusing on diversity with talented and popular young adult authors who do what they do best- storytell in their own unique ways. Luen Yang does a graphic short story. de la Cruz continues a story of immigration that was a previously-published book and so on. There's romance and sentimentality, history, humor, and cooking. Each is a powerful standalone but together is an epic collection and Giles hit it hard-- a fresh take, coo
...more

Middle school teachers and librarians got a lot of mileage from Flying Lessons & Other Stories last year, and we devotees of We Need Diverse Books have been eagerly anticipating this collection. I had the opportunity to see Lamar Giles speak recently, and I was inspired by his passion to ensure that all children have the experience of seeing themselves in literature. He and the diverse collection of authors represented in Fresh Ink have curated a gold mine of stories in all genres. For those of
...more

Thanks to this collection a lot of authors have been added to my TBR.
Eraser Tattoo by Jason Reynolds - girl is moving across country leaving her boyfriend behind ★★★★
Meet Cute by Malinda Lo - two girls are stuck together during a convention power outage ★★★
Don’t Pass Me By by Eric Gansworth - in a majority white school, some can pass others won't ★★★★
Be Cool for Once by Aminah Mae Safi - while attending a concert, a girl meets up with the boy she has a crush on ★★★★★
Tags by Walter Dean Myers - s ...more
Eraser Tattoo by Jason Reynolds - girl is moving across country leaving her boyfriend behind ★★★★
Meet Cute by Malinda Lo - two girls are stuck together during a convention power outage ★★★
Don’t Pass Me By by Eric Gansworth - in a majority white school, some can pass others won't ★★★★
Be Cool for Once by Aminah Mae Safi - while attending a concert, a girl meets up with the boy she has a crush on ★★★★★
Tags by Walter Dean Myers - s ...more

This a was precious diverse gem!
If you are curious about YA literature or if you are already fan you should read this book!
These thought-provoking and beautifully crafted stories about YAs dealing with gender identity. sexual orientation, race, prejudice and discrimination will warm your heart and soul!
Since I’m a SFF reader I especially loved “Tags” and “A Stranger at the Bochinche” but all the stories were fantastic!
I discovered great authors in this anthology and cannot wait you read all ...more
If you are curious about YA literature or if you are already fan you should read this book!
These thought-provoking and beautifully crafted stories about YAs dealing with gender identity. sexual orientation, race, prejudice and discrimination will warm your heart and soul!
Since I’m a SFF reader I especially loved “Tags” and “A Stranger at the Bochinche” but all the stories were fantastic!
I discovered great authors in this anthology and cannot wait you read all ...more

Jun 22, 2019
☆Dani☆ ☆Touch My Spine Book Reviews☆
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
This short story collection was awesome! I loved the diversity and reading about different perspectives and situations from different authors. Well written and recommended!

Written for anyone who doesn't "fit a certain mold," this is an important book. I enjoyed some stories much more than others, but that's to be expected. I love this book for it's thought provoking messages. Thanks to Random House for donating to We Need Diverse Books.
The stories included are:
Eraser Tattoo by Jason Reynolds. There were some powerful moments in this one, but I couldn't get past the fact that eraser tattoos are painful and not very safe and she wouldn't quit pressuring him to get o ...more
The stories included are:
Eraser Tattoo by Jason Reynolds. There were some powerful moments in this one, but I couldn't get past the fact that eraser tattoos are painful and not very safe and she wouldn't quit pressuring him to get o ...more

Eraser Tattoo- Jason Reynolds- 3 stars
I’m not quite sure I understood the intent or the point of this short story. It was however of course well-written but too short for me to grasp its greatness.
But in this case, let’s hope young love wins.
Meet Cute Malinda Lo- 3.5 stars
Another story that’s strong point is diversity. It’s short but lengthier than the first story. An LGBTQ story that tackles the nervousness of two teens who share a love of things comic con related, but on a quick chance meeting ...more
I’m not quite sure I understood the intent or the point of this short story. It was however of course well-written but too short for me to grasp its greatness.
But in this case, let’s hope young love wins.
Meet Cute Malinda Lo- 3.5 stars
Another story that’s strong point is diversity. It’s short but lengthier than the first story. An LGBTQ story that tackles the nervousness of two teens who share a love of things comic con related, but on a quick chance meeting ...more

I wanna marry all of Jason Reynolds' stories.
...more

Fresh Ink is a collection of short stories with diverse characters by popular young adult authors such as Jason Reynolds, Nicola Yoon, Sara Farizan and Sharon G. Flake. Lamar Giles composed this collection of stories because the characters are not the norm. This book contains African American, lesbian, and transgender main characters, which would be the meaning of this collection of stories. In the foreword, Lamar Giles explains his feeling towards reading, and how with every book he read, he co
...more
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Lamar "L. R." Giles writes books for teens and adults. FAKE ID, his debut Young Adult Thriller, will be published by HarperCollins in 2014. He is represented by Jamie Weiss Chilton of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency and resides in Chesapeake, VA with his wife.
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Caroline Tung Richmond is an award-winning YA author and the program director of We Need Diverse Books. Run by authors, librarians,...
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“You don’t apologize for who you are. I’m an old lady now and perhaps that doesn’t mean much in the world we live in, but I exist and I shouldn’t have to be sorry for that. As a woman, you have to know that. Don’t ever apologize for who you are,”
—
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