I’m so thrilled to be a contributor to Kelly Jensen’s YA anthology Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World. There are 44 diverse voices in this anthology, which features a scrapbook-style treasure full of essays, interviews, and art that all speak in some way to feminism and what that means for teens today.
Contributors to Here We Are include some of my favorite YA authors as well as celebrities and activists with stories to tell and wisdom to share. This book has garnered starred review from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus, School Library Journal, and more… I mean, just look at some of the things said about it (this is only a sampling of the amazing quotes and stars this anthology has been collecting):
“A progressive antidote to the ancient teen health textbooks that mull over the dry basics of teen identity . . . a stellar collection . . . An embarrassment of riches.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review“Earnest, conversational, and dauntlessly unapologetic . . . An education unto itself, the message of inclusion and strength is invaluable.”
—Booklist, starred review“Fantastic . . . There is something here for everyone. This celebratory examination of feminism is a much-needed addition to teen collections.”
—School Library Journal, starred review“Sophisticated yet entirely accessible, the collection is valuable both for the breadth of thought and perspective it represents and for the support it directs toward readers.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review“Within the lively pages of Here We Are is a 21st-century ‘feminist party,’ and everyone is invited . . . This exciting, provocative anthology for young adults collects diverse and even fascinatingly contradictory viewpoints on modern feminism.”
—Shelf Awareness for Readers, starred review“Here We Are not only presents an inclusive and hopeful vision for the future of feminism, it also boldly and proudly passes the torch to the next generation of leaders.”
—Teen Vogue
Here We Are includes an essay from me, called “Reading Worthy Women,” about the pact I made with myself in high school after my World Humanities teacher told me he had included not a single woman on his class syllabus because no women were “worthy.” The essay talks about how I had a private rebellion, just for myself, an aspiring writer… and set out to prove him wrong.
Here We Are is now available in paperback from Algonquin Young Readers. (Yes, the same publisher of my latest novel! They are truly fantastic.) Order your copy—for a teen in your life, or for yourself—today!