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A review by paperbackd
A Change Is Gonna Come by Lucy Banaji, Irfan Master, Catherine Johnson, Phoebe Roy, Ayisha Malik, Nikesh Shukla, Aisha Bushby, Yasmin Rahman, Mary Bello, Patrice Lawrence, Tanya Byrne, Inua Ellams, Musa Okwonga
4.0
As a Brit, I’m always on the lookout for local authors to support, but it’s not easy - American authors dominate the ‘Teen and YA’ sections of most British bookshops. It’s even harder to find diverse #UKYA lit. We’re behind the times when it comes to diversifying our shelves - with some notable exceptions (Patrick Ness, Malorie Blackman and Juno Dawson to name a few), the biggest names in British children’s literature are overwhelmingly straight and white. So when I heard about A Change Is Gonna Come - an anthology of black, Asian and minority ethnic British authors - I was immediately excited.
The poems and short stories in this anthology explore the theme of ‘change’, and the authors’ interpretations of the theme vary widely, but each story feels undeniably relevant to modern British teenagers - from Nikesh Shukla’s exploration of a teenage friendship torn apart by post-Brexit racial tensions, to Patrice Lawrence’s frighteningly familiar dystopian version of my own city.
Like most anthologies, there’s something for everyone in A Change Is Gonna Come, whether you’re a fan of historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy or contemporary. Celebrating and championing the voices of British people of colour, A Change Is Gonna Come is a much-needed collection of stories, and I hope to see it gracing the shelves of libraries and schools up and down the country.
Many thanks to Stripes Publishing for providing a copy of A Change Is Gonna Come. The opinions expressed in this review are my own. A Change Is Gonna Come will be released on August 10th.
Publisher: Stripes Publishing
Rating: 4 stars | ★★★★✰
Review cross-posted to Paperback'd Reviews
The poems and short stories in this anthology explore the theme of ‘change’, and the authors’ interpretations of the theme vary widely, but each story feels undeniably relevant to modern British teenagers - from Nikesh Shukla’s exploration of a teenage friendship torn apart by post-Brexit racial tensions, to Patrice Lawrence’s frighteningly familiar dystopian version of my own city.
Like most anthologies, there’s something for everyone in A Change Is Gonna Come, whether you’re a fan of historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy or contemporary. Celebrating and championing the voices of British people of colour, A Change Is Gonna Come is a much-needed collection of stories, and I hope to see it gracing the shelves of libraries and schools up and down the country.
Many thanks to Stripes Publishing for providing a copy of A Change Is Gonna Come. The opinions expressed in this review are my own. A Change Is Gonna Come will be released on August 10th.
Publisher: Stripes Publishing
Rating: 4 stars | ★★★★✰
Review cross-posted to Paperback'd Reviews