Fools In Love

September 15, 2021
Grades 8-12 This collection of short stories aimed at YA readers brings 15 award-winning and up-and-coming authors together to reimagine familiar romance tropes with fresh twists on the happily ever after. Some stories are contemporary, and others are genre-bending. Natasha Ngan's "Snowed in Together" begins near the finish line of an Iditarod-style race course with wolves and giant tentacled monsters. "Mistaken Identity," by Amy Spalding, is a funny rideshare meet-cute. In Julian Winters' "Hero vs. Villain," two superheroes break-up, and one goes for the villain. Lilliam Rivera's "Sibling's Hot Best Friend" has puppeteers trying to hide their desires behind the scenes, and Malinda Lo's princess in "Secret Royalty" is simply trying to hide out. With nonbinary protagonists and an overall strong LGBTQ+ representation, this anthology gives all readers hope that love is out there for everyone. Other YA short-story collections that tug at the heartstrings and include an LGBTQ+ perspective are Saundra Mitchell's All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens throughout the Ages (2018) or David Levithan's 19 Love Songs (2020).

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November 1, 2021
Fifteen authors offer up tales inspired and informed by classic romance tropes in this pleasing anthology, which delivers an enjoyable selection of kisses, confessions, and happy-for-nows. Alongside a variety of character backgrounds, gender identities, and pairings, editors and contributors Blake (Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea) and Podos (The Wise and the Wicked) curate a range of moods, genres, and themes. In Malinda Lo’s Chinese-inspired speculative “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” fix-it genius Fei Cheng encounters a runaway princess aboard a space station. Julian Winters’s “What Makes Us Heroes” sees Black superhero-in-training Shai finding common ground with golden-complexioned, former friend-turned-villain Kyan at a coffee shop. Realistic contemporaries include Amy Spalding’s “Five Stars,” which involves a white teen being mistaken for a rideshare driver, and Mason Deaver’s “Boys Noise,” in which two white members of a popular boy band—one cis, one trans—escape their handlers for an unsupervised birthday excursion to New York City. Fun and frothy, this is a candy box of romantic stories boasting joyful,
satisfying conclusions. Ages 13–up. Agent: Rebecca Podos, Rees Literary.

December 1, 2021
Fifteen notable YA authors take on romantic tropes. Each entry centers on a familiar romance plot convention--named in the story's subtitle--with the settings and characters' identities bringing additional variety. In Laura Silverman's "The Passover Date: Fake Dating," 18-year-old Rachel Ableman ropes in her middle school crush, Matthew Pearlman, to attend a chaotic family Seder. In Julian Winters' "What Makes Us Heroes: Hero vs. Villain," Black superhero-to-be Shai encounters his estranged friend and maybe-villain-in-training, Kyan, while waiting for his ex-boyfriend. While romance naturally is at the forefront, themes of identity, belonging, and social status are developed in many stories. Some protagonists take on patriarchal norms: Gloria Chao's "Teed Up: Oblivious to Lovers" sees Taiwanese American Sunny Chang competing as the sole female golfer in a junior championship, while Lili Marin of Lilliam Rivera's "These Strings: Sibling's Hot Best Friend" longs to take a creative leadership role in the family business, a Latinx traveling puppet theater. In several stories, characters reflect on gender and sexual orientation. For example, Lev from Mason Deaver's "Boys Noise: Only One Bed at the Inn" plays hooky and takes a trip to New York City with a fellow member of his boy band; he reflects on being gay and trans and the toll of the professional contract that keeps him closeted. From meet-cutes to frenemies to long-gestating feelings, this anthology offers a pleasurable assortment of love connections. Delightful, romantic fun. (author bios) (Romance anthology. 14-18)

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