A review by kieralesley
Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology by Danielle Binks
4.0
A nice collection of #LoveOzYA short stories. Mostly sci-fi and contemporary with a lot of LGBTQI+ representation, these stories and voices really represent a good cross-section of unashamedly Australian voices.
My favourites were One Small Step by Amie Kaufman and Sundays by Melissa Keil:
One Small Step for creating an action-y story set on Mars with a lesbian romance subplot that creates such a complete story and world in twenty pages that I am in awe.
Sundays for perfectly capturing the feeling of being at a house party at that age. The petty drama, the feeling of walking around a house for hours, wondering what you’re doing here, running into or after your friends. Spending a hell of a lot of time in strange bathrooms, kitchens and front lawns. The connections between friends and being on the brink of new things and finding that scary, knowing that it won’t ever be like this again and not sure if you’re ready to leave. Off the strength of this I decided I need to read everything Melissa Keil has ever written, right now.
For a collection that aims to showcase the scope and quality of YA writers in Australia Begin, End, Begin delivers.
My favourites were One Small Step by Amie Kaufman and Sundays by Melissa Keil:
One Small Step for creating an action-y story set on Mars with a lesbian romance subplot that creates such a complete story and world in twenty pages that I am in awe.
Sundays for perfectly capturing the feeling of being at a house party at that age. The petty drama, the feeling of walking around a house for hours, wondering what you’re doing here, running into or after your friends. Spending a hell of a lot of time in strange bathrooms, kitchens and front lawns. The connections between friends and being on the brink of new things and finding that scary, knowing that it won’t ever be like this again and not sure if you’re ready to leave. Off the strength of this I decided I need to read everything Melissa Keil has ever written, right now.
For a collection that aims to showcase the scope and quality of YA writers in Australia Begin, End, Begin delivers.