Twelve short stories in verse by bestselling and award-winning authors that explore the highs and lows of love romantic, platonic, familial, and self-love.
Love can be many things all-consuming, fleeting, vengeful, selfless, toxic, uplifting, and always, a core part of the teen experience that leaves an indelible mark. This enchanting, genre-crossing anthology delivers something for every reader with unique characters, global settings, and a dazzling mixture of myth, historical, speculative, and contemporary fiction.
With the turn of a page, get swept away by unexpected love blooming between two princes from enemy Mesoamerican nations in the 15th century, who'd rather make music rather than war; cheer for a timid bearded lady who was shunned by her family and runs away to find belonging and safety at the circus during the 1800s experience the heartbreak of saying goodbye to a beloved pet; breathlessly watch a myth unfold as a siren bound to the water falls in love with a winged forest spirit, their love seemingly impossible from the start. Root for a girl who emerges from grief and battles with chronic pain to discover how to love herself and life again.
Love is complicated, and this anthology embraces the messiness and the joy of all kinds of love. Contributors include:
Alexandra Alessandri
David Bowles
Melanie Crowder
Margarita Engle
Eric Gansworth
Robin Gow
Mariama J. Lockington
Laura Ruby
Padma Venkatraman
Jasmine Warga
Charles Waters
Kip Wilson
DAVID BOWLES grew up in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, where he teaches at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He's the author of several award-winning titles, including They Call Me Güero, The Smoking Mirror, the 13th Street series, and Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico. His picture book debut, My Two Border Towns, is available in English and Spanish. In 2020, David co-founded #DignidadLiteraria, a grassroots activist hashtag and movement dedicated to promoting equity for Latinx people in publishing.
MELANIE CROWDER (she/her) holds an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and is the author of the critically acclaimed Audacity, Mazie, and An Uninterrupted View of the Sky. She lives with her family on the Colorado Front Range. Visit Melanie online at www.melaniecrowder.net. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @MelanieACrowder.
Margarita Engle (she/her) is the Cuban American author of many books including the verse novels Your Heart, My Sky; With a Star in My Hand; The Surrender Tree, a Newbery Honor winner; and Forest World. Her verse memoirs include Soaring Earth and Enchanted Air, which received the Pura Belpré Award, a Walter Dean Myers Award Honor, and was a finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction, among others. Her picture books include Drum Dream Girl; Dancing Hands; and The Flying Girl. Visit her at MargaritaEngle.com.
Padma Venkatraman (padmavenkatraman.com) was born in India and became an American after living in five countries and working as an oceanographer. She also wrote The Bridge Home (Walter Award, Golden Kite Award, Global Read-Aloud), A Time to Dance (IBBY selection, ALA Notable), Island's End (CCBC Choice, South Asia Book Award), and Climbing the Stairs (ALA/Amelia Bloomer List, Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People). She lives in Rhode Island.
