Book Review of I See Reality: Twelve Short Stories About Real Life by YA authors, compiled by Grace Kendall

One of my earliest introductions to YA, the genre I hold nearest to my heart (and enjoy writing the most), was actually not a YA novel, but, instead, a collection of short stories by authors whose works had been banned or challenged, edited by none other than the famed Judy Blume, called Places I Never Meant To Be. Half of my lifetime later, with as much reading as I do, I've never been able to find a YA short story collection that captured the same feeling. I gave up long ago, acknowledging that it was magical enough to have captured lightning in a jar just the once. ...and then, lo and behold, my sneaky book ninja friend gifted me with an ARC of this little gem. By the time I'd sunk my teeth into the second story, I knew: I See Reality had filled a second jar.

Had I found this book on a bookstore or library shelf instead of piled in amongst other books in the best type of care package--a box unapologetically stuffed with books--I would've selected to read it because of two of the contributing authors whose work I've loved: Trisha Leaver and Heather Demetrios. I posted a review here of The Secrets We Keep by Trisha Leaver, in case you're curious. (After eagerly awaiting it for way too long, the book still blew my socks off.)

Out of the twelve short stories included in I See Reality, I was moved by ten. All of them made me think, question, and gain new understanding. From Three Imaginary Conversations With You, in which Heather Demetrios introduces us to a high school senior who wants to break up with her older, controlling boyfriend to Kristin Elizabeth Clark's light touch when dealing with a gay protagonist finally gaining self awareness, each author brings unique characters in realistic situations to life in compelling and exciting ways. Kekla Magoon drives home the realities of poverty, racial identity, and abuse in Makeshift with such vivid sensory details that I felt WITH her characters--not FOR them. Jason Schmidt turns his narrative of a school shooting into the simplest and most touching story of a boy and a girl in Things You Get Over, Things You Don't. Prescription drug addiction and the pitfalls of high school romance come alive in Coffee Chameleon by Jay Clark. Marcella Pixley presents readers with a disturbing story of grief and mental illness in Hush, and Trisha Leaver speaks to everyone who hides his or her light under a bushel because of someone else's sins and other people's perceptions in Blackbird. In her untitled pithy short comic, Faith Erin Hicks makes a heartbreaking situation less painful with hilarity, while Jordan Sonnenblick sums up four years' worth of lessons in mere pages with The Sweeter The Sin. Capping off the whole emotionally reeling collection is The Good Brother, Patrick Flores-Scott's tale of two brothers: one who is in our country legally, and one who is here against the law.

If nothing else, that rundown should've illuminated the very breadth and variety of issues and situations the authors whose works are included in I See Reality have explored in depth. Whether your eyes caught the names of some of your favorite YA authors on the list of contributors, or you're just interested in good YA short stories depicting diverse characters in a multitude of difficult situations, I See Reality is a fantastic choice. I can't recommend this one enough!