Review: Our Stories, Our Voices - Various Authors - Anthology

Review: Our Stories, Our Voices - Anthology - Various Authors - January 2019

For many Americans, not just the females who are talked about and spotlighted in this anthology, there are a few dates that have stuck in their minds from incidents like the KKK lynchings in the 1950's/1960's, Oklahoma Bombing, Kent State Ohio, September 11th, 2001, Deaths of JFK and Martin Luther King and last but not least the elections of 2016 when Donald Trump won out over Hilary Clinton. Each of these events has played a part in some of the authors' lives who have featured in this essay. We also have edgier topics from sexual harassment, rape, and homosexuality. Our Stories, Our Voices is a collection of essays / short stories from female authors who are prominent in YA fiction talking about their experiences and what they have had to overcome in a world of white superiority, a world where men were told it's ok to have sex with females as they are asking for it. Over the past ten years our world is slowly changing, some for the better where the minorities of Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and Muslims are finally being treated like an equal and not frowned or blamed for historical/other events and where women finally can stand up against their accused in a #Metoo Movement. A world where Feminism isn't frowned upon and being a feminist you aren't automatically painted as a male hater. Also, a world where you can finally be your true selves without feeling repressed.  This anthology does have triggering points with some stories but each one packs a powerful punch and as someone who grew up not in America and someone who is white myself and lived a semi-sheltered life as I might have been exposed to events like child abuse, poverty, suicide, etc but I also lived in a pretty sheltered family home where we did things mainly as a family unit and I didn't have friends outside of school hours.  If you are wanting an anthology to help guide your views of justice  and empowerment especially if you too live in America, then you will love this YA anthology which includes some of my favorite YA authors like Amy Reed, Ellen Hopkins, Julie Murphy, Sandhya Menon, Maurene Goo, Nina LaCour, and Hannah Moskowitz, etc.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3tE4h04