I have elected not to read and review this book due to time constraints. Thank you for the opportunity.

I love anthologies, but for some reason they do not circulate well in my library (for any age group!). That being said, I think this is an important one to include. Might seem obvious, but what I love about this particular anthology is the diversity. There are stories from so many different cultures and backgrounds that show all different kinds of love, and that needs to be celebrated! Love how rich this anthology is.

This anthology brought me to tears many times. The stories have the heart of those that have always been told they are not enough, of seeing someone who doesn't look like them be lauded above them. This anthology tells many stories but the main thing to take from it: Everyone deserves love.

While this wasn’t my favorite YA anthology because I missed more of a through-line of theme through the stories, I still really enjoyed this book. I loved being introduced to new voices I wasn’t familiar with, like Karuna Riazi, and getting new stories from authors I already love, like Anna-Marie McLemore. It was fun to have a mix of so many genres in an anthology like this. A lot of my teen readers are really loving anthologies lately, so I’m excited to share this one with them.

As with most collections, there were stories that I adored and stories that were left unmentioned. I think this book offers a lot of diversity and representation that is unfortunately not at the forefront in the marketing of books.

I always find it difficult to rate anthologies & short story collections. To give the book as a whole a rating feels wrong because each piece is its own. If I had to, I would rate the collection 3/5 stars. But what feels more right/appropriate is to talk about the highs and lows of this YA short story collection, and give ratings for those stories specifically.

The Bad Ones:
Unfortunately a large handful of these were either forgettable, corny, or had an unbelievable approach to the topic. For example “What We Love” by Lauren Gibaldi was the most corny shit I’ve read in a long time. It was like a heavy-handed Hallmark movie for teens. Seriously, I skim read this.

Similarly, “The Coward’s Guide to Falling In Love” by Caroline Tung Richmond was very cheesy and amateur, and felt like it didn’t actually get much into the topic of culture or racial identity. There were slight themes of empowerment that I suppose were nice, but it just lacked depth to me, and was very forgettable.

Finally, “The Agony of a Heart’s Wish” by Samira Ahmed was so emotionally manipulative and heavy-handed it actually made me angry. It centers around the very important topic of British colonization, but is so preachy and such a downer. It was rushed in places that needed more time, and slow in places that could have been cut. This was the most disappointing of the bunch for me.

The Best Ones:
The book started off very strong with “Turn the Sky to Petals” by Anna-Marie McLemore. To be honest, it was destined to be downhill from here, because AMM is among my top 3 favorite authors of all time. But I digress. This story was full of the lyrical writing, imagery, and magical realism that is AMM’s trademark. It was short, yet managed to be colorful, poetic, and unique. I can tell they chose their words carefully. It was an interesting way to talk about culture and “otherness,” because the magic element of it made it not entirely about the main characters’ cultures. It was about the things they were experiencing as individuals within their larger group. The pressures they faced growing up to do their absolute best and also participate in the group events. Given the theme of this anthology, I don’t know if this is necessarily a good thing… but I certainly would have read an entire novel of just this. In a sea of forgettable short stories, I have a feeling I will remember the particulars of this one for a while.

Similarly to AMM’s story, “Death and the Maiden” by Tara Sim told the story of culture without being heavy-handed and through the lens of fantasy/mythology/magic. It made for a more enjoyable experience, and a unique avenue to convey cultural conflicts and violence. I am head over heels for this story, which should come as no shock given that it’s a sapphic retelling of the myth of Hades & Persephone! It was about the struggles of a people and oppression and chronic violence and genecide, but done in a beautiful and heartbreaking way.

A more overt story that I very much enjoyed from this anthology was “Your Life Matters” by L.L. McKinney. It packed a much bigger punch and was much more fast-paced, but man did it make a point! Some of the plot points felt convenient, but there was a surprise element to this story that made it absolutely cool, and I am so happy this story was included.

And finally, “Gilman Street” by Michelle Ruiz Keil was the last one I was truly invested in. It has an awesome nod to punk music in Berkeley, CA (which is literally less than an hour from me), and featured some amazing queer and latinx representation. It was a rad story about connections and self-discovery and managed to pack in a lot about discovering one’s identity in a very short amount of time.

This anthology features a number of notable authors, and of course, in this format, some stories are bound to resonate more than others. While I don't know if I'd use this for instruction, I feel its values and messages could earn it a place on my classroom bookshelf in the future.

I really need to stop reading anthologies. They just always end up disappointing me. Maybe two stories are really great and then the rest are either okay or bad. This was about the same. There were a couple stories I liked but overall this was just meh.


I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review .

When I first got approved for this book I was super excited! I enjoy short stories and there is many well known writers in this book. I loved the focus on LGTBQ+ relationships as you these stories don’t get a ton of focus. With any short story collection there were stories I loved and stories I didn’t care for! Overall a great read!
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with a copy for an honest review!

This arc was kindly sent to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I’m not always the biggest fan of short story collections because usually there are some stories you like and some you don’t. Honestly, I didn’t vibe very well with this one and I had a hard time getting into it. The stories didn’t really have a common theme which kind of thorough me of at times. But if you’re a fan of short story collections this still might still be something you’d be interested in. The representation was actually really great and some of the stories really caught my interest.

In this remarkable short-story collection focusing on interracial love stories will make you laugh, cry, and--in several cases--wish that for full-length novels of the protagonists. Enjoy a mix of fantasy and contemporary worlds brought to life, with protagonists you're rooting for from beginning to end, with happy meet-cutes and established couples sorting through the differences between their races and cultures. Along the way, you'll encounter: an Indian girl who marries Hades; a Chinese boy who can't figure out what he did to get stuck with the ghost of the one pirate ancestor he has; a Black superhero dating a white cop's daughter; a boy who just wants something "gay and magical" at the bookstore; and more.

"Color Outside the Lines" is be a magical delight for readers of all ages and races.

Wonderful collection of stories featuring characters from all walks of life: race, culture, orientation, etc. Some stories are realistic, some fantasy, and some in between those two realms. I would recommend it as a whole read or just story by story to students.

Anthologies are always tough to rate, but I enjoyed this one more than others I've read recently. I was immediately intrigued by a set of YA short stories about interracial relationships (personal bias), and this one does an admirable job highlighting the nuances and dynamics and the beauty of being in love with someone from a different culture and background. It provides a great deal of hope along with the entertainment, and I love how it runs the gamut of genres from fantasy to historical to contemporary.

Not all of the stories are stellar (for example, What We Love by Lauren Gibaldi--about a Jewish girl and an Indian boy joining together to get revenge on a Mean Blonde Girl--felt like a stereotyped 80s or 90s flick, and I expected more depth from the girl grappling with her mom's newfound faith and community in Faithfull by Karuna Riazi), but here are some standouts:

--Your Life Matters by L. L. McKinney (if you like secret superheroes)
--The Agony of a Heart's Wish by Samira Ahmed (if you like historical fiction and gut-punch endings)
--Yuma and the Wall by Lydia Kang (if you like fantasy villages)
--Something Gay and Magical by Adam SIlvera (if you like bookstore meet-cutes, though this one was far too short)

I liked the stories in this book, for the most part. There were some that it was difficult for me to feel interested or involved in. Some were repetitive and I was not a fan of them but when there were stories that I really liked, I LOVED them. I typically read novels but books like this are a nice break and I like reading some things that are "short and sweet". Overall, not my favorite book but there are some stories in here that make it worthwhile.

Loved these short stories filled with diversity!

The only story that would make me slightly hesitant to purchase was "Death and the Maiden."

*Slight spoilers below*


It was a bit more explicit than the rest (I purchase for teens, and it would still be acceptable), but more problematic was that I just didn't love the message of torturing someone as a form of vengeance (even if that person is terrible), or the whole notion of this girl, who is essentially being forced into a relationship as a prisoner, falling in love with her captor after that captor provides nice things for her.

The challenge with all short story collections: how to collectively rate something that contains multiple works from multiple people? I suppose overall I appreciated premise and the variation in story genre and character background, but found a real inconsistency in the quality of the different stories: some of them particularly didn't seem to quite fulfill the need for world-building and a plot/character arc within the short story format, and I found a lot of the endings quite abrupt even when I was enjoying the story.

Normally I enjoy reading short stories as a diversion from novels, but this anthology had several stories that lacked quality writing. The stories ranged from 2 - 4 stars. The topics covered in the stories are important and relevant to our teens. I read this as an ARC and I'll wait to see the publish copy before deciding whether to add it to our library.

I don't often read anthologies (or short stories for that matter). I prefer my books a little longer so I can really get in to the story. Right from the introduction though, Color Outside the Lines grabbed me and sucked me in -
"When people ask me what this anthology is about, I'm often tempted to give them the complicated answer: it's about race, about being different from the person you love - how it can matter and also not matter - and it's about Chinese pirate ghosts, and black girl vigilantes, and colonial India, and a flower festival, and a garden of poisons, and so, so much else. Honestly, though? I think the answer's much simpler than that. Color Outside the Lines is a collection of stories about young, fierce, brilliantly hopeful characters of all colors." (from the introduction by Sangu Mandanna).
I mean, how can you not want to read this book after that? What I loved the most was how different all of the stories were; it would have been easy to create an anthology of YA realistic fiction from the last couple of decades but that's exactly what this book isn't and why it's so wonderful. The stories run the gamut from realistic fiction to fantasy to historical fiction and they are so well curated that the transitions never seem jarring nor are they grouped in such a way that you feel the transition from genre to genre. The book flows smoothly from story to story, author to author.
Speaking of the stories - to go through each one individually would do the book a disservice. There is something here for everyone and that is part of the beauty of the book. I didn't love each and every story but there were some that left me breathless and wanting more. Some are blatant commentary on biracial relations and relationships and some are more subtle explorations of other types of differences. Some take place in the here and now, while others take place in the past or in a different world entirely. What links them together is the humanity of the characters - their strengths, their fears, their hopes, their love - and that's what kept me reading, story after story.

Appropriate for Gr. 6 and up. Some good choices to spark classroom discussions.

Listen, I’m usually not the biggest fan of anthologies. Most times, there are two short stories that I really love and the rest, I just feel meh about. Sometimes, I feel obliged to review every single story on its own, while other times I feel like the stories only work as a whole. It’s a complicated thing.

But Color Outside the Lines has my whole heart.

This collection of stories approaches interracial and LGBTQIA+ relationships in various ways, addressing a plethora of topics connected to it. Love, culture, family, expectations, prejudice, discrimination, and barred communications are just a few that are explored. There are stories about trying to find common ground between cultures, facing the challenges of the privileges of being “colorblind” and understanding that to be equal is not the same as to simply say the words and be done with the topic. There are stories challenging stereotypical points of views, stories about kids who just want to find themselves in popular culture, stories about fierce people who just want to be heard and seen, who just want to be able to say, “I matter. I deserve to take up space.”. It’s a kaleidoscope of voices that illuminate how much we need more diverse literature and just how important these voices are.

I contemplated reviewing the short stories individually, but I feel like it would be doing this book a disservice. I went into the stories not knowing anything besides the title and it made the exploration of the previously mentioned topics all the more magical. The vibrant mix of stories is what makes this anthology so accessible. Truly, there is a story for everybody within these pages – whether it’s about not being aware of the monumental differences between cultures, the way one kindhearted person can change your life, or the female/female Hades/Persephone reimagination you’ve always wanted. Moreover, every single story left me wanting more – and it is my hope that this anthology is one of the necessary steps to get young readers to pick up diverse stories and find acceptance in them.

So what can you expect to get if you pick up this book? You will get a Jewish girl and an Indian boy discussing their outsider status and the worry of not fitting in. You will experience a world in which everybody has a ghost as their sidekick. A story in which colonialism separates two people who might have had one of the most epic love stories of their time. A tale about a daughter of a poisoner and a boy shunned for his scars finding common ground. And so much more!

What you can expect most of all is finding new authors to obsess over! For instance, I’ve been following Eric Smith on Twitter for ages, but I’ve never read any of his works. After reading his contribution to this fine collection, “Sandwiched in Between”, that tragic mistake will be remedied immediately. These authors put so much soul into these stories and it transpires beautifully onto the page. Whether it’s the lush descriptions of a fantastical land in which a girl gets to decide where and when her story begins or the realistic, no-nonsense prose that follows a boy wanting to find a book at the store that gives a queer character a happily ever after – there is care behind these words. Care to give teens a voice. And it is so, so encouraging, I can’t even find words for the wholesome feeling in my chest, closing this book.

All in all, I’m so happy this anthology exists and my hope is that every young individual who is craving to see themselves represented in stories will find they are very welcome in this world  – to quote this anthology: “Stories belong to everyone, not just the ones telling them”.

I cannot wait for this book to hit my shelves. I will be book talking it to my students when we head back to school! An important book for everyone to read. This anthology represents and celebrates love that is diverse. Relationships that overcome cultural differences. It shows how people from different backgrounds can come together and not allow those differences, as challenging as they maybe, to rule their lives. We need to be a society that acknowledges diversity and begin a dialogue of inclusion. Diversity enhances us.